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AUTHOR: 


STUBBS,  WILLIAM 


TITLE: 


EARLY  PLANTAGENETS 


PL A CE : 


BOSTON 

DA  TE : 

1876 


COLUMBIA  U;   1\  ERSITY  LIBRARiiiS 
PRESERVATION  DEPARTMENT 


Masler  Negative  # 


BIBLIOGRAl  iiiC  MICRO  1  ( )  1  ( \ 


l(.j  ET 


Original  Material  as  Filmed  -  Existing  Bibliographic  Record 


Restrictions  on  Use: 


r~ 


-rr 


942.03 

St9  Stubbs,  William,  dp,  of  Oxford,  1825-1901, 

...   The    early   Plantagenets,    by   William    Stubbs   ... 
Boston.   Estes  and  Lauriat;   Chicago,  Jansen,  McClurg:  ' 
&  CO.;  jctc,  etc.j  1876. 

erntLory^^  ^'     ^  ""*P«  (^"^L  front.)     16J-.     (^a{/--<i(^;  Epochs  of  mod- 
Serica  title  alHo  at  head  of  t.-p. 


Subject  cntrie«:  Gt.  Brit.— II iflt— Plan tat'enete,  1154-1399. 


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\ 


Epochs  of  Modern   History 


THE 


EARLY  PLANTAGENETS 


BY 


WILLIAM   STUBBS,   M.A. 


REGIUS   PROFESSOR   OF   MODERN   HISTORY   IN   THE   UNIVERSITY  OF  OXFORD 


WITH     TWO     MAPS 


LONDON 
LONGMANS,     GREEN,     AND     CO. 

1876 


All    rights    reserved 


/: 


9ff 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 


INTRODUCTION. 


Importance  of  the  Epoch— Its  character  in  French  and  German 
History— In  English  History— Geographical  Summary— Italy 
— Germany — France — Spain Page  i 


^ 


CHAPTER  II. 


STEPHEN  AND  MATILDA. 


Accession  of  Stephen — Arrest  of  the  Bishops — Election  of  Matilda 
—The  Anarchy — The  Pacification lo 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  EARLY  YEARS  OF  HENRY  II. 

Terms  of  Henry's  accession — His  character — His  early  reforms — 
His  relations  with  France — War  of  Toulouse — Summary  of  nine 
years'  work 3a 


24389 


^^  Confatts. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

HENRY  n.   AND  THOMAS  BECKET. 

.    Page  55 
CHAPTER  V. 

THE  LATTER  YEARS  OF  HENRY  11. 

Continued  reforms-Revolt  of  1173-1174-Renewed  mdustiy   of 

Henry-H.    later    years-Quarrel    with    Richard-Fall^and 

80 

CHAPTER  VI. 

RICHARD  CCEUR   DE  LION. 
Character  of  the  reign-Richard's  first  visit  to  England-His  cha 

^Lrnl  :  ^T'":  p1"  ^^  Wcham^Rlhatds  second 
visit-His  struggle  with  Philip-His  death  .  ,  " 

•         •         •  101^ 

CHAPTER  VII. 

JOHN. 

'""uUhTh"  r'r^.'^'c""  Claims-Loss  of  Nonnandy-Quarre 
U™lloh„  .S  ^""""^^  ^""^  ■■'=  consequences-A^va,  of 

iCHAPTER  VIII. 

HENRY    riL 

""'rturfh^'H^Ii^f  t"""'"'°"  °'  '^'"•^"  Marshall-Hubert 
LeiS^i"  '    ^''  °'""  minister- Foreign   favourites - 

General  misgovemment-Papal  intrigue  and  taxation  153 


Contents. 


VII 


l>l        VI 


\ 


CHAPTER  IX 

SIMON   DE   MONTFORT. 

""iLi-ot^rc^:;^^^^^^^^^  of  ..58- 

Battle  of  Lewes-Raront    .i    °"'^''~^^^"^^^f  St.  Le4- 
Closing  years       .  '  go^ern^,ent-Battle  of  Evesham- 

Page  179 

CHAPTER  X. 
EDWARD  L 

Position  and  character  of  Edward-The  Crusade-Th 

The  conquest   of  Wales    fhv.    ^     ,  ^^^  ^^^^ssion— 

system-Growth  of  Parifa~em."        '^'''  ^^'^-"— financial 

•  202 

CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  CONFIRMATION  OF  THE  CHARTERS. 

Punishment  of  the  Judges-Banishment  of  the  lew.    ^       •  u 
cess,on-The  French  quarrel-The  Ecdes^^LV^^^  '"" 

Constitutional  crisis— The  r'r^nfi       ecclesiastical  quarrel— The 

liamentof  Lincolnlltlsecme?  r"T.''  ^'^  Charters-Par- 
-Edwards  death  ^^^1"^'-^^  ^^  of  Scottish  Independence 

.  227 
CHAPTER   XII. 

EDWARD   ri. 

Character  of   Edward    II  —  p,>r<;    r.,     ♦ 

Thomas  of  Unc,xs,er-The  D Ll^m  rfhll--  °f*"-«- 
death  .  '^^^I^nsers— The  King's  ruin  and 


Index 


Ml 


2=;i 


V7 


MAPS. 


THE 


EARLY    PLANTAGENETS. 


Medieval  Europe 


England  and  France  (1152-1327) 


To  face  Title 
M      /.  32 


\ 


\ 


\ 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Importance  of  the  Epoch— Its  character  in  French  and  German 
History— In  Knglish  History— Geographical  Summary— Italy- • 
Germany— France— Spain.  ^  y 

The  geographical  area  of  that  history  which  alone  de- 
serves the  name  has  more  than  once  changed.   The  early 
home  of  human  society  was  in  Asia.     Greece    y   • 
and   Italy   successively  became   the  theatres     arSs°and 
of  the  world's  drama,  and  in   modern  times     hum2.°^ 
the  real  progress  of  society  has  moved  within     ^^^^^T- 
the  limits  of  Western  Christendom.     So,  too,  with  the 
material  history.     At  one  period  the  growth  of  the  life 
of  the  world  is  in  its  literature,  at  another  in  its  wars, 
at   another  in   its   institutions.      Sometimes   everything 
circles  round  one  great  man  ;   at  other  times   the   key 
to  the  interest  is  found  in  some  complex  political  idea, 
such  as  the  balance  of  power,  or  the  realisation  of  na- 
tional identity.    The  successive  stages  of  growth  in  the 

Af.  H.  B 


The  Early  Plantage7iets. 


CH.  I. 


CH.  I. 


more  advanced   nations   are  not  contemporaneous  and 
may  not  follow  in  the  same  order.   The  quickened  energy 
of  one  race  finds  its  expression  in  commerce  and  coloni- 
sation, that  of  another  in  internal  organisation  and  elabo- 
rate training,  that  of  a  third  in  arms,  that  of  a  fourth  in 
art  and  literature.     In  some  the  literary  growth  precedes 
the  political  growth,  in  others  it  follows  it  ;  in  some  it  is 
forced  into  premature  luxuriance  by  national  struggles,  in 
others   the   national   struggles   themselves    engross    the 
strength  that  would  ordinarily  find  expression  in  litera- 
ture.    Art    has   flourished    greatly   both    where  political 
freedom  has  encouraged  the   exercise  of  every   natural 
gift  and  where  political  oppression  has  forced  the  genius 
of  the  people  into  a  channel  which  seemed  least  dangerous 
to  the  oppressor.     Still,  on  the  whole,  the  European  na- 
tions in  modern  history  emerge  from  somewhat  similar 
circumstances.     Under  somewhat  similar  discipline,  and 
by  somewhat  similar  expedients  they  feel  their  way  to 
that  national  consciousness  in  which  they  ultimately  di- 
verge so  widely.    We  may  hope,  then,  to  find,  in  the  illus- 
tration of  a  definite  section  or  well   ascertained   epoch 
of  that   histor>',   sufficient  unity  of  plot  and  interest,   a 
sufficient  number  of  contrasts  and  analogies,  to  save  it 
from  being  a  dry  analysis  of  facts  or  a  mere  statement 
of  general  laws. 

Such  a  period  is  thnt  upon  which  we  now  enter  ;  an 
epoch  which  in  the  history  of  England  extends  from 
the  accession  of  Stephen  to  the  death  of 
Edward  II.;  that  is,  from  the  beginning  of 
the  constitutional  growth  of  a  consoHdated 
English  people  to  the  opening  of  the  long  struggle 
with  France  under  Edward  III.  It  is  scarcely  less 
France.  '^'^^^  defined  in  French  and  German  histor}-. 

In   France  it   witnesses   the  process  through 
which  the  modern  kingdom  of  France  was  constituted  ; 


Introduction, 


The  epoch 
to  be  now 
treated. 


A 


the   aggregation   of    the   several   provinces    which    had 
hitherto  recognised  only  a  nominal   feudal    supremacy, 
under  the  direct  personal  rule  of  the  king,  and  their  in- 
corporation  into    a    national    system    of   administration. 
In  Germany  it  comprises  a  more  varied  series 
of  great  incidents.     The  process  of  disruption     ^"'"'"^"y- 
in    the  German   kingdom,  never  well  consolidated,  had 
begun  with  the  great  schism  between  North  and  South 
under  Henry  IV.,  and  furnished  one  chief  element  in  the 
quarrel  between   pope  and  emperor.      During  the  first 
half  of  the  twelfth  century  it  worked  more  deepi)-,  if  not 
more  widely,  in  the  rivalry  between  Saxon  and  Swabian. 
Under  Frederick  I.  it  necessitated  the  remodelling  of  the 
internal  arrangements  of  Germany,  the  breaking  up  of 
the  national  or  dynastic  dukedoms.     Under   Frederick 
II.  it  broke  up  the  empire  itself,  to  be  reconstituted  in  a 
widely  different  form  and  with  altered  aims  and  preten- 
sions under  Rudolf  of  Hapsburg.    This  is  bv  itself  a  most 
eventful  history,  in  which  the  varieties  of' combinations 
and  alternations  of  public  feeling  abound  with  new  results 
and  illustrations  of  the  permanence  of  ancient  causes. 

In  the  relations  of  the  Empire  and  the  Papacy  the 
same  epoch  contains  one  cycle  of  the  great  rivalry,  the 
series  of  struggles  which  take  a  new  form 
under  Frederick  I.  and  Alexander  III.,  and  '^^^^'"P'^'^- 
come  to  an  end  in  the  contest  between  Lewis  of  Bavaria 
and  John  XXII.  It  comprises  the  whole  drama  of  the 
Hohenstaufen,  and  the  failure  of  the  great  hopes  of  the 
world  under  Henry  VII.,  which  resulted  in  the  constitu- 
tmg  of  a  new  theory  of  relations  under  the  Luxemburg 
and  Hapsburg  emperors. 

Whilst  these  greater  actors  are  thus  preparing  for  the 
sti-uggle  which  forms  the  later  history  of  European  poli- 
tics, Spain  and  Italy  are  passing  through  a  difi'erent 
discipline.     In  the  midst  of  all  runs  the  history  of  the 


B    3 


The  Early  Plantagcncts. 


CH.  I. 

Church  and  the  Crusades,  which  supplies  one  continuous 
clue  to  the  r^;adincr  of  the  period,  a  common  ground  on 
which  all  the  actors  for  a  time  and  from  time  to  time 
meet. 

But  the  interest  of  the  time  is  not  confined  to  political 
history.     It  abounds  with   character.      It  is  an   age  in 
An  epoch  of    ^^'hich  there  are  very  many  great  men,  and 
great  men.       in  ^yhich  the  great  men  not  only  occupy  but 
deserve  the  first  place  in  the  historian's  eve.     It  is  their 
history  rather  than  the  history  of  their  peoples  that  fur- 
nishes  the   contribution   of   the  period   to   the   world's 
progress.    This  is  the  heroic  period  of  the  middle  ages,— 
the  only  period  during  which,  on  a  great  scale  and"  on  a 
great  stage,  were  exemplified  the  true  virtues  which  were 
later  idealised  and  debased  in  the  name  of  chivalrv-,— the 
age  of  John  of  Brienne  and  Simon  de  Montfort,  of  the  two 
great  Fredericks,  of  St.  Bernard  and  Innocent  III.,  and 
of  St.  Lewis  and  Edward  I.     It  is  free  for  the  most  part 
from  the  repulsive  features  of  the  ages  that  precede,  and 
from  the  vindictive  cruelty  and  political  immorality  of  the 
age  that  follows.     Manners  are  more  refined  than  in  the 
Manners         earlier  age  and  yet  simpler  and  sincerer  than 
and  reii-         those  of  the  next ;  religion  is  more  distinctly 
operative  for  good  and  less  marked  by  the 
evils   which  seem  inseparable  from  its  participation  in 
the  political  action  of  the  world.     Yet  not  even  the  thir- 
teenth centur>'  was  an  age  of  gold,  much  less  those  por- 
tions of  the  twelfth  and  fourteenth  which  come  within  our 
present  view.     It  was  not  an  age  of  prosperity  althou-h 
It  was  an  age  of  growth ;  its  gains  were  gained  in  great 
measure   by   suffering.       If  Lewis    IX.   and    Edward   I. 
Moral  taught  the  world  that  kings   might  be  both 

lesions.  good  men  and  strong  sovereigns,  Henr>'  III 

and  Lewis  VII.  taught  it  that  religious  habits  and  even 
tirm  convictions  are  too  often  insufficient  to  keep  the 


cn.  I. 


hitrodticiion. 


^is 


^ 


I 


weak  from  falsehood  and  wrong.  The  history  of  Frede- 
rick II.  showed  that  the  race  is  not  always  to  the  swift 
or  the  battle  to  the  strong,  that  of  Conrad  and  Conradin 
that  the  right  is  not  always  to  triumph,  and  that  the 
vengeance  which  evil  deeds  must  bring  in  the  end  comes 
in  some  cases  very  slowly  and  with  no  remedy  to  those 
who  have  suffered. 

It  is  but  a  small  section  of  this  great  period  that  we 
propose  to  sketch  in  the  present  volume;- the  history  of 
our  own  country  during  this  epoch  of  great 
men  and  great  causes ;  but  it  comprises  the    orETg!'''' 
history  of  what  is  one  at  least  of  England's     inlhi's'^'"''' 
greatest  contributions  to  the  world's  progress,     ^p*^'^^- 
The  history  of  England  under  the  early  kings   of  the 
house  of  Plantagenet  unfolds  and  traces  the  growth  of 
that  constitution  which,  far  more  than  any  other  that  the 
world  has  ever  seen,  has  kept  alive  the  forms  and  spirit 
of  free  government ;  which  has  been  the  discipline  that 
formed  the  great  free  republic  of  the  present  day;  which 
was  for  ages  the  beacon  of  true  social  freedom  that  terri- 
fied the  despots  abroad  and  served  as  a  model  for  the 
aspirations  of  hopeful  patriots.     It  is  scarcely  too  much 
to  say  that  English   history,  during  these  ages,  is  the 
history  of  the  birth  of  true  political  liberty.     For,  not  to 
forget  the  services  of  the  Italian  republics,  or  of  the 
German  confederations  of  the  middle  ages,  we  cannot 
fail  to  see  that  in  their  actual  results  they  fell  as  dead 
before  the  great  monarchies  of  the  sixteenth  century,  as 
the  ancient  liberties  of  Athens  had  fallen ;  or  where  the 
spirit  survived,  as  in  Switzerland,  it  took  a  form  in  which 
no  great   nationality  could  work.      It   was   in    England 
alone  that  the  problem  of  national  self-governmenr  was 
practically  solved ;   and  although  under  the  Tudor  and 
Stewart  sovereigns  Englishmen  themselves  ran  the  risk 
of  forgetting   the   lesson   they   had   learned   and   being 


The  Early  Planiagenets. 


CH.  I. 

robbed  of  the  fruits  for  which  their  fathers  had  laboured 
the  men  who  restored  poHtical  consciousness,  and  who 
recovered  the  endangered   rights,  won  their  victory  by 
argumentative  weapons  drawn  from   the    storehouse  of 
medieval  English  history,  and  by  the  maintenance  and 
realisation  of  the  spirit   of  liberty  in  forms  which  had 
survived  from  earlier  days.     It  is  as  an  introduction  to 
Chamcter        the  study  of  English  history  during  the  period 
of  th.sbook.     of  constitutional  growth,  that  we  shall  attempt 
to  sketch  the  epoch,  not  as  a  Constitutional  Historv-  but 
as   an   outline  of  the  period  and   of   the  combinations 
through  which  the  constitutional  growth   was    workin- 
the  place  of  England  in  European  history  and  the  cha- 
racter of   the  men  who  helped  to  make  her   what   she 
ultimately  became.     Before  we  begin,  however,  we  mav 
take  a  glance  at  the  map  of  Europe  at  the  point  of  time 
irom  which  we  start. 

Eastern  Europe,  from  the  coasts  of  the  Adriatic  to 
the  limits  of  Mahometan  conquest  eastward,  was  sub- 
Geographi-     J^ct  to  the  empeior  who  reigned  at  Constanti- 
caUum-         nople,   and    may,   except    for    its    incidental 
connexion  with  the  Crusades,  be  left  out  of 
the  present  view.      The  northern  portions  were  in  the 
hands   of  half-civilised,   half-Christianised  races,  which 
formed  a  barrier  dangerous  but  efficacious  between  the 
Byzantine    emperor    and   Western    Christendom.      Th^ 
ItZl  ^r-^'''^  °^  Hungary,  and  the  acquisitions  of 

Zl  ,  ^^""'^^  ^"^  "^^  ^^^'  of  the  Adriatic  fenced 
medieval  Europe  from  the  same  enemies.  Italy  was 
div-ided  between   the    Normans,   who   governed    Apuha 

Lothar  II      the  Emperor  who  was  on  the  throne  when 

our  period  begins-had  become  little  more  than  nominal 

outh   of  the  Alps;   the   independence  of  t^e   imper" 

cities  and  small  principalities  reaching  from  the  Alps  to 


♦  I 


CH.  I. 


Introduction. 


4;> 


-Ajl 


4 


Rome  itself  was  maintained  chiefly  by  the  inability  ol 
the  Germans  to  keep  either  by  administrative  organisa- 
tion or  by  dynastic  alliances  a  permanent  hold 
upon  it.  With  both  the  Republican  north  ^'^'^" 
and  the  Normanised  south,  the  political  history  of  the 
Plantagenet  kings  came  in  constant  connexion;  and  even 
more  close  and  continuous  was  the  relation  through  the 
agency  of  the  Church  with  Rome  itself.  At  the  opening 
of  the  period.  Englishmen  were  not  only  studying  in  the 
universities  of  Italy,  at  Salerno,  at  Bologna,  and  at  Pavia, 
but  were  repaying  to  Italy,  in  the  services  of  prelates  and 
statesmen,  the  debt  which  England  had  incurred  through 
Lanfranc  and  Anselm.  An  Englishman  was  soon  to  be 
pope.  The  Norman  kings  chose  ministers  and  prelates 
of  English  birth;  and  the  same  Norman  power  of  or- 
ganisation which  worked  in  England  under  Henry  I.  and 
Roger  of  Salisbury,  worked  in  similar  hnes  in  Sicily 
under  King  Roger  and  his  posterity. 

Looking  northwards,  we  see  Germany,  in  the  middle 
of  the  twelfth  century,  still  administered,  although  un- 
easily, under  the  ancient  system  of  the  four 
nations.  Saxony,  Franconia,  Swabia,  and  Ba-     ^"'"'"^"y- 
varia;  four  distinct  nationalities  which  refused  permanent 
combination.  This  system  was,  however,  in  its  last  decay. 
Its  completeness  was  everywhere  broken  in  upon  by  the 
great   ecclesiastical   principalities   which   the  piety   and 
policy  of  the  emperors  had  interposed  among  the  great 
secular  states,  to  break  the  impulse  of  aggressive  warfare, 
to  serve  as  models  of  good  order,  and  to  maintain  a  direct 
hold  in  the  imperial  hands  on  territories  which  could  not 
become  hereditary  in  a  succession  of  priests.     Not  only 
so;  the  debateable  lands  which  lay  between  the  great 
nations  were  breaking  up  into  minor  states:  landgraves, 
margraves,  and  counts  palatine  were  assuming  the  func- 
tions  of  dukes;  the  dukes,  where  they  could  not  maintain 


>] 


The  Early  Plantagenets. 


CH.  I. 

to  be  dismembered  .olt f dth^o^  ts^ '^ -ILZ" 
was  fa,„„g  .0  pieces  between  .he  archbishops  of' Co Wne 
theEl""°"'Tf  ^^^'"'^"''-S^  Franconia  beVwLn 

portio'of  hi  '       ""  ■^''"'"  ^^■^'""^^  Swabia  was  the 
portion  of  the  reigning  imperial  house,  the  treasnrv  thJZ 

WestwnrH   v.,00   V        "^^^  ^"^o  absolute  division, 
westward   was   France   under   I  ewiQ   vtt      j-  -j    , 

from  German,  b.  the  .ongnarro^rariLf^lie  St 

provinces.       ^^^  recognised  as  nominal  only     The<;p  nr^ 
vinces   formed  a   debatenhl^   L      ,  "^^^  P™" 
which  had  for  one  of  its  rh,>f  7  boundary  Ime, 

of  peace  between  ^L  H  "'""^  f""«'°"s  'he  maintenance 

*e''rep"est"res'      tt 7^^ of  c"ht  'T'  """^ 
and  Which  served  its  tur^r^'L^L'Sra'd^'I^ 

r_   Within  his  fe:dr^rr.:iirr':s- 
the  south,  ttrdi"':f -r '  "^^  ^^-'^^  °^  ^''"-'- 1 

Maine  and  Brittle  eft  hl^T  ^fhe  ta^'r/  °^" 
the  httle  strip  of  coast  between  FHnH  j '.,        ^''^" 

was  h.,d  by  the  count  of  B  u^og^rwr:  ^.^^he   ™'"'^ 
was  likewise  king  of  England    Yet  fh    >       i         """"^"f 
was  by  no  means  at  its  d  epest  dl!    H  '"^''°'"  "^^""'^'^ 
had  kept  alive  the  idea  of  !      ''"gradation.     Lewis  VI. 
V  me  Idea  of  a  central  power,  and  had  ob- 


CH.  r. 


Introduction. 


tamed  for  his  son  the  hand  of  the  heiress  of  Aquitaine  • 
the  schemes  were  already  in  operation  by  which  T k  m'' 
were  to  offer  to  the  provinces  a  better'  and  firmer  rule 
than  they  enjoyed  under  their  petty  lords,  by  which  frlud 
and  policy  were  to  split  up  the  principalities  and  attract 
them  fragment  by  fragment  to  the  central  power,  and  by 
which  even  Normandy  itself  was  in  little  more  than  fifty 
years  to  be  recovered;  by  which  a  real  central  gove™- 
ment  was  to  be  instituted,  and  the  semblance  of  national 

.Ton'aVcrataaer '<="  '''  '"  '"^'^  "'  ^  '"-^-  - 
North  of  France  the   imperial   provinces   of  Lower 
Lorraine,  and   the  debateable  lands   between   Lorraine 
and   Saxony,  had  much  the  same  indefinite    ^  , 
character  as  belonged  to  the  southern  parts    cI™^S. 
of  the  intermediate   kingdom.     They  seldom  took  part 

oart  ofT      H  /,  '  '^'"^'"''  •'""'°"3'^  "^^^  ^^^^  ""finally 
part  of  It,  and  the  stronger  emperors  enforced  their  right 

But  as  a  rule  they  were  too  distant  from  the  centrS  of 

government  to  fear  much  interference,  and,  enjoying  such 

freedom  as  they  could,  they  gladly  recognised  the  em 

perors  sway  when  they  required  his  help.     We  shall  see 

the  princes  of  Lorraine  taking  no  small  part  in  the  ne- 

gotia  ions  between  England  and  Germany  under  Richard 

and  John,  but  they  generally  played  a  game  with  Flan- 

b^rrin."""'^''  '  ^-""^''^  '''^'"'^'  ^"'^  ^"'  ^"  indirect 

bearing   on  European  politics;  and  we  chiefly  hear  of 

^ese  lands  as  furnishing  the  hordes  of  mercenary  sol- 

diers  for  the  crusades  and  internal  wars  of  Europe  until 

almost  suddenly  the  Flemish  cities  break  upon  our  eye 

as  centres  of  commerce  and  political  life 

sevfr°,lf'''ni-'''/P''"   '""^    ^^""S'-'''    d'"ded    into 
several  small  kingdoms  between  closely  allied     >=    . 

and  kindred  kings,  all  employed  in  the  long    ^Sugl" 

crusade  of  seven  centuries  against  the  Moor:  a  crusade 

which  IS  now  beginning  to  have  hopes  of  successful  issue 


10 


The  Early  Plantagenets.        a.d.  1135. 


Central  Spain,  on  the  line  of  the  Tagus,  is  still  in  dispute, 
although  Toledo  had  been  taken  in  1085,  and  Saragossa 
in  1 1 18.  Lisbon  was  taken  with  the  help  of  the  Cru- 
saders in  1 147.  In  each  of  the  Christian  states  of  Spain, 
free  institutions  of  government,  national  assemblies  and 
local  self-government,  preserved  distinct  traces  of  the 
Teutonic  or  Gothic  origin  of  the  ruling  races ;  and  even 
before  the  English  parliament  grew  to  completeness, 
the  Cortes  of  Castille  and  Aragon  were  theoretically 
complete  assemblies  of  the  three  estates.  The  growth 
of  Spain  is  one  of  the  distinct  features  of  our  epoch; 
but  it  is  a  growth  apart.  There  are  as  yet  scarcely  more 
than  one  or  two  points  at  which  it  comes  in  contact  with 
the  general  action  of  Europe. 


CHAPTER  II. 

STEPHEN   AND    MATILDA. 

Accession  of  Stephen— Arrest  of  the  Bishops— Election  of  Matilda— 
The  Anarchy— The  Pacification. 

The  English  had  had  hard  times  under  the  Conqueror 
and  his  sons,  but  they  had  learned  a  great  lesson :  they 
Results  of  ^^^  learned  that  they  were  one  people.  The 
the^Norman  Normans  too,  the  great  nobles  who  had  di- 
vided the  land  and  hoped  to  create  little 
monarchies  of  their  own  in  every  county  and  manor,  had 
had  hard  times.  Confiscation,  mutilation,  exile,  death 
had  come  heavily  upon  them.  They  also  had  had  a  lesson 
to  learn,  to  rid  themselves  of  personal  and  selfish  aims, 
to  consolidate  a  powerful  state  under  a  king  of  their  own 
race,  and  to  content  themselves  as  servants  of  the  law 
with  the  substantial  enjoyment  of  powers  which  they 
found  themselves  too  weak  to  wrest  out  of  the  hands  of 


A.D.   1 135. 


Stephen  and  Matilda. 


II 


the  king,  the  supreme  law-giver  and  administrator  of  the 
law.  This  lesson  they  had  not  learned.  They  had  sub- 
mitted with  an  ill  grace  to  the  strong  rule  of  the  king's 
ministers,  the  men  whom  they  had  taught  to  guard 
against  their  attempts  at  usurpation.  Hence  throughout 
these  reigns  the  Norman  king  and  the  English  people 
had  been  thrown  together.  They  soon  learned  that  they 
had  common  aims,  finding  themselves  constantly  in  array 
against  a  common  enemy.  Hence,  too,  the  English 
had  already  an  earnest  of  the  final  victory.  They  grew 
whilst  their  adversaries  wasted.  The  successive  genera- 
tions of  the  Normans  found  their  wiser  sons  learning  to 
call  themselves  English,  while  those  who  would  not  learn 
English  ways  declined  in  number  and  strength  from  year 
to  year. 

The  Conqueror  in  a  measure,  and  Henry  I.  with 
more  clearness,  perceived  this,  and  foresaw  the  result. 
They  were  careful  not  only  to  call  themselves  ^,^ 
English  kings,  but  nominally  at  least  to  main-  of  king\nd 
tain  English  customs  and  to  rule  by  English  p^°p'^ 
laws.  One  by  one  the  great  houses  which  furnished  rivals 
to  their  power  dropped  before  them,  and  Henry  I.  at  the 
close  of  his  reign  was  so  strong  that,  had  it  not  been  for 
the  fact  that  he  had  by  habit  and  routine  made  himself  a 
law  to  himself,  he  might  easily  have  played  the  part  of 
a  tyrant.  But  the  forces  which  he  and  his  father  had 
so  sturdily  repressed  were  not  extinguished ;  nor  was  the 
administrative  system,  by  which  they  at  once  maintained 
the  rights  of  the  English  and  kept  their  own  grasp  of 
power,  sufficiently  consolidated  to  stand  .steadily  when 
the  hands  that  had  reared  it  were  taken  away. 

This  also,  it  may  seem  probable,  Henry  I.  distinctly 
saw.      It  was  to  hii .  apprehensions   on   this     r^ 

*  '  l^uestion  of 

account  that   for  years  before   his   death   he     succession. 
was  busily  employed  in  securing  the  succession  by  ever>' 


12  The  Early  Pla7itage4i€ts,        a.d.  1135. 

possible  means  to  his  own  children.  The  feeling  which 
led  him  to  do  so  is  not  quite  capable  of  simple  analysis. 
He  had  no  great  love  for  his  daughter,  the  empress 
Matilda;  what  paternal  affection  he  had  to  lavish  had 
been  spent  on  his  son  William,  whose  death  was  no 
doubt  the  trouble  that  went  nearest  to  his  heart.  We 
cannot  suppose  that  he  cared  much  for  the  people  whom, 
although  they  had  delivered  him  more  than  once  in  the 
most  trying  times,  he  never  scrupled,  when  it  suited  his 
purpose,  to  treat  as  slaves.  It  would  almost  seem  as  if 
he  felt  that,  unless  he  could  anticipate  the  continuance  of 
power  in  the  hands  of  his  daughter  and  her  offspring,  his 
own  tenure  of  it  for  the  present  would  be  incomplete,  and 
the  great  glory  of  the  sons  of  Rollo  would  suffer  diminu- 
tion in  his  hands. 

Three  times,  therefore,  by  the  most  solemn  oaths,  he 
had  tried  to  secure  the  adherence  of  the  nation  to  her 
Precautions     ^"^  ^^  ^^^  ^on.     Vast  assemblies  had  been 
HenlV^f        held,  attended  by  Norman  and  English  alike. 
Earl  Stephen  and  earl  Robert  had  vied  with 
one   another   as   to   who   should  take  the  tirst  oath  of 
homage ;  the  concurrence  of  the  Church  had  been  pro- 
mised and,  so  far  as  gratitude   and  a  sense  of  interest 
as  well  as  duty  could  go,  had  been  secured.      But  all 
this  had  been  insufficient   to   stay  Henry's  misgivings. 
At  the  time  of  his  death  he  had  been  already  four  years 
in  Normandy  striving  to  keep  peace  between   Matilda 
and  her  husband,  Geoffrey  of  Anjou,  between  the  Nor- 
mans and  the  Angevins,  and  to  consolidate  his  hold  on 
the   duchy,  which   had  at  last,  since  the  death  of  his 
nephew  and  brother,  become  indisputably  his  own.     His 
sudden  death  occurred  in  the  midst  of  these  designs.     It 
was  said  and  sworn  to  by  his  steward   Hugh  Bigot,  a 
man  whose  later  career  adds  little  to  his  authority  as  a 
witness,  that  just  before  his  death,  provoked  by  her  per- 


A.D.  1 135. 


Stephen  and  Matilda. 


13 


verseness,  he  had  disinherited  his  daughter.  It  may 
have  been  so ;  the  threat  of  disinheritance  may  have  been 
a  menace  which  his  unexpected  death  gave  him  no  time 
to  recall.  But  the  very  report  was  enough.  He  died  on 
December  i,  1135;  and  from  that  moment  the  succes- 
sion was  treated  as  an  open  question,  to  be  discussed  by 
Normans  and  Englishmen,  together  or  apart,  as  they 
pleased. 

We  may  if  we  choose  speculate  on  the  motives  that 
swayed  the  great  men.  No  doubt  the  pure  Norman 
nobles  would  gladly  have  set  aside  altogether    „,, 

,        J  1  /-  T  T      ,  Who  were 

the  descendants  of  Harlotta  ;  all  the  Normans  the  compe- 
together  would  have  refused  the  rule  of  Geof-  "'°*^ ' 
frey  of  Anjou.  A  new  duke,  if  they  must  have  a  duke, 
might  be  chosen  from  the  house  of  Champagne,  from 
among  the  sons  of  Adela.  the  Conqueror's  greatest  and 
most  famous  daughter ;  Count  Theobald  was  the  reign- 
ing count,  but  he  was  not  the  eldest  son,  and  as  his  elder 
brother  had  been  set  aside  so  might  he.  Stephen,  the 
next  brother,  the  Count  of  Mortain  and  Bou-     c»    u      c 

'  otepnen  of 

logne,  and  first  baron  of  Normandy,  had  R>o>s. 
already  his  footing  in  the  land.  His  wife  too  was  01 
English  descent.  Her  mother  was  sister  to  the  good 
queen  of  Henry  I.,  and  whatever  the  old  king  had  hoped 
to  gain  by  this  blood  connexion  with  his  subjects,  Stephen 
might  gain  by  his  wife.  Stephen  was  a  brave  man  too, 
and  he  had  as  yet  made  no  enemies. 

But  his  success,  such  as  it  was,  was  due  to  his  own 
promptness.  He  had,  as  count  of  Boulogne,  the  com- 
mand of  the  shortest  passage  to  England.  Whilst  the 
Normans  were  discussing  the  merits  of  his  brother 
Theobald,  he  took  on  himself  to  be  his  own  messenger. 
He  remembered  how  his  uncle  had  won  the  crown  and 
treasure  of  William  Rufus ;  he  left  the  Norman  lords  to 
look  after  the  funeral  of  their  dead  lord  and  sailed  for 


14  The  Early  PI antage nets.        a.d.  1135. 

Kent ;  at  Dover  and  at  Canterbury  he  was  received  with 
sullen  silence.  The  men  of  Kent  had  no  love  for  the 
Stephen's  Stranger  who  came,  as  his  predecessor  Eustace 
arrival  in        had  done,  to  trouble  the  land ;   on  he  went 

England.  _         , 

to  London,  and  there  he  learned  that  the 
same  prejudice  which  existed  in  Normandy  against  the 
Angevins  was  in  full  force.  '  We  will  not  have,'  the  Lon- 
doners said,  *a  stranger  to  rule  over  us;'  though  how 
Stephen  of  Champagne  was  more  a  stranger  than  Geoffrey 
of  Anjou  it  is  not  easy  to  see.  Anyhow,  as  nothing  suc- 
ceeds like  success,  nothing  is  so  potent  to  secure  the 
name  of  king  as  the  wearing  of  the  crown.  So  Stephen 
went  on  to  Winchester  and  there  secured  the  crown  and 
treasure.  In  little  more  than  three  weeks  he  had  come 
again  to  London  and  claimed  the  crown  as  the  elect  of 
the  nation. 

The  assembly  which  saw  the  coronation  and  did 
homage  on  St.  Stephen's  day  was  but  a  poor  substitute 
Election  of  for  the  great  councils  which  had  attended  the 
fidJoro'na-  summons  of  William  and  Henry,  and  in  which 
tion.  Stephen,  as  a  subject,  had  played  a  leading 

part.  There  was  his  brother  Henry  of  Winchester,  the 
skilled  and  politic  churchman,  who  was  willing  enough 
to  be  a  king's  brother  if  he  might  build  up  ecclesiastical 
supremacy  through  him  ;  there  was  Archbishop  William 
of  Corbeuil,  who  had  undertaken  by  the  most  solemn 
obligations  to  support  Matilda,  and  who  knew  that  his 
prerogative  vote  might  decide  the  contest  against  Ste- 
phen, although  it  could  not  restore  the  chances  of  peace; 
there  was  Roger  of  Salisbury-,  the  late  kings  prime 
minister,  the  master  builder  of  the  constitutional  fabric, 
undecided  between  duty  and  the  desire  of  retaining 
power.  Very  few  of  the  barons  were  there  ;  Hugh  Bigot, 
indeed,  with  his  convenient  oath,  and  a  few  more  whose 
complicity  with  Stephen  had  already  thrown  them  on 


i 


A.D.   1 135. 


Siephcn  and  Matilda, 


15 


I 


;  s 


him  as  a  sole  chance  of  safety.  The  rest  of  the  great 
men  present  were  the  citizens  of  London,  Norman  barons 
of  a  sort,  foreign  merchants,  some  few  rich  Englishmen : 
all  of  them  men  who  were  used  to  public  business,  who 
knew  how  Henry  L,  had  held  his  courts,  who  believed 
confidently  in  force  and  money.  They  had  first  encou- 
raged Stephen  from  fear  of  Geoffrey ;  and  more  or  less 
they  held  to  Stephen  as  long  as  he  lived.  These  men 
constituted  the  witenagemot  that  chose  him  king,  and 
overruled  the  scruples  of  the  inconstant  archbishop. 
They  took  upon  them  to  represent  the  nation  that  should 
ratify  the  election  of  a  new  king  with  their  applause. 

Henry  I.  was  not  yet  in  his  grave;  but  all  promises 
made  to  him  were  forgotten.  With  what  seems    ^j^^^  ^j^^^. 
a  sort  of  irony,  Stephen  issued  as  his  corona-    ^^^^\^^^ 
tion  charter  a  simple  promise  to  observe  and 
compel  the  observance  of  all  the  good  laws  and  good 
customs  of  his  uncle. 

The  news  of  the  great  event  travelled  rapidly.  Count 
Theobald,  vexed  and  disappointed  as  he  was,  refused  to 
contest  the  crown  which  his  brother  already  wore ;  Geof- 
frey and  Matilda  were  quarrelling  with  their  own  subjects 
in  Anjou ;  and  Robert  of  Gloucester,  who  hated  Stephen 
more  than  he  loved  Matilda,  saw  that  he  must  bide  his 
time.  Some  crisis  must  soon  occur;  he  knew  that 
Stephen  would  soon  spend  his  treasure  and  break  his 
promises.  Meanwhile  the  old  king  must  be  buried  like 
a  king ;  and  the  great  lords  came  over  with  the  corpse 
to  Reading  where  he  had  built  his  last  resting-place. 
There  Stephen  met  them,  within  the  twelve  days  of 
Christmas;  and  after  the  funeral,  at  Oxford  or  some- 
where in  the  neighbourhood,  he  arranged  terms  with 
them;  terms  by  which  he  endeavoured,  amplifying  the 
words  of  his  charter,  to  catch  the  goodwill  of  each  class 
of  his  subjects.     To  the  clergy  he  promised  relief  from 


i6 


The  Early  Plantagencts. 


A.D.   11-36. 


the  exactions  of  the  late  reign  and  freedom  of  election ;  to 
the  barons  he  promised  a  relaxation  of  the  forest  law 
the  execution  of  which  had  been  hardened  and  sharp- 
ened by  Henry  I. ;  and  to  the  people  he  promised  the 
abohtion  of  danegeld.  '  These  things  chiefly  and  other 
thmgs  besides  he  vowed  to  God/  says  Henry  of  Hunt- 
mgdon,  '  but  he  kept  none  of  them/  The  promises  were 
perhaps  not  insincere  at  the  time ;  anyhow  they  had  the 
desired  effect,  and  united  the  nation  for  the  moment. 

The  king  by  this  means  got  time  to  hasten  into  the 
North,  where  King  David  of  Scots,  the  uncle  of  the  em- 
First  inva-       press,  had  invaded  the  country  in  her  name 
Scots'" '"'     '^^^  ^^'^  ki"Ss  met  at  Durham.     David  had 
taken  Newcastle  and  Carlisle;  Newcastle  he 
surrendered,  Carlisle  Stephen  left  in  his  hands  as  a  bribe 
for  neutrality.    It  was  too  much  for  David,  who,  although 
a  good  king,  was  a  Scot.     He  agreed  to  make  peace  • 
but  he  had  sworn  fealty  to  his  niece :  he  could  not  be- 
come Stephen  s  man.     His  son  Henry-,  however,  might 
bear  the  burden  ;  so  Henry  swore  and  Stephen  sealed  the 
bargain  with  the  gift  of  Huntingdon,  part  of  the  inheri- 
tance of  Henry's  mother,  the  daughter  of  Waltheof,  the 
last  of  the  English  earls.     Then    Stephen  went  back  to 
London  and  so  to  Oxford.     There  he  published  a  new 
charter,  intended  to  comprise  the  new  promises  of  good 
government.  ** 

eJT,  "?  f-^f  "'°"  '''^'"  ^■■'''"'■' ''"'''  ■->=  *e  "^-me  of 
earl  Robert  of  G  ouces.er  is  found  among  the  witnesses, 

Second  't  's  Clear  that  he  had  submitted ;  but  the  oath 

cha^r,er^of       which  he  took  to  Stephen  was  a  conditional 
one  more  like  that  of  a  rival  potentate  than  of 
a  dependent;  he  would  be  faithful  to  the  king  so  long  as 
the  k,ng  should  preserve  to  him  his  rights  and  dignifies 
This  was  no  shght  concession,  made  by  Robert  doubtless 
because  he  saw  that  his  sister's  cause  was  hopeless;  but 


{ 


^- 


A.D.    1 136. 


Stephcji  and  Matilda, 


17 


It  was  no  slight  obligation  for  Stephen  to  undertake 
Robert  had  great  feudal  domains  in  England,  and  all 
the  personal  friends  of  his  father  and  sister  were  at  his 
beck.  Stephen  might  have  been  safer  with  him  as  a  de- 
clared enemy.     But  for  the  moment  there  was  peace 

The  charter,  published  at  Oxford,  promised  good 
government  very  circumstantially;  the  abuses  of  the 
Church,  of  the  forests,  and  of  the  sheriffs,  were  all  to  be 
remedied.  But  the  enactments  made  were  not  nearly  so 
clear  or  circumstantial  as  the  promises  made  at  the  late 
king's  funeral. 

The  first  cloud,  and  it  was  a  very  little  one,  arose 
soon  after.     Before  Whitsuntide  Stephen  was  taken  ill 
and  a  rumour  went  forth  that  he  was  dead,     p  ,  „.      ' 
The  Norman  rage  for  treason  began  to  fer-     of  x?""" 
ment.     Hugh  Bigot,  the  lord  of  Norwich,  was  the  first  to 
take  up  arms ;  Baldwin  of  Redvers,  the  greatest  lord  in 
Devonshire,  followed.    But  the  king  recovered  as  quickly 
as  he  had  sickened.     He  took  Norwich  and  Exeter,  but 
—deserting  thus  the  uniform  policy  of  his  predecessors^ 
spared  the  traitors.     Cheered  by  this  measure  of  success 
he   immediately   broke  the  second   of  his  constitutional 
promises,  holding  a  great  court  of  inquiry  into  the  forests 
and  impleading  and  punishing  at  his  pleasure. 

The  year  1136  affords  little  more  of  interest ;  the  year 
1137  was  spent  in  securing  Normandy,  which  Geoffrey 
and  Matilda  were  unable  to  hold  against  him      p    •    . 
and  in  forming  a  close  alliance  with  France!     oF?3f.. 
When  he  returned,  just  before  Christmas,  he  had  spent 
nearly  all  his  money,  and  the  evil  day  was  not  far  off. 
Rebellion  was  again  threatening,  and  a  mighty  dark  cloud 
nad  tor  the  second  time  arisen  in  the  North.    W^e  are  noc 
told  by  the  historians  exactly  whether  the  king's  misrule 
made  the  opening  for  the  revolt,  or  the  revolt  forced  him 
mto  misrule.     Possibly  the  two  evils  waxed  worse  and 

M.  H,  ^ 


i8 


The  Early  Plantagencts.       a.d.  1138. 


worse  together  :  for  neither  party  trusted  the  other,  and 
under  the  circumstances  every  precaution  wore  the  look 
Second  of  aggression.    Stephen  was  to  the  last  degree 

invasion  by  impolitic  ;  and  to  say  that  is  to  allow  that  he 
iViisS.'"'  was  more  than  half  dishonest.  Still  he  had  the 
great  majority  of  the  people  on  his  side.  A  premature 
but  general  rebellion  in  the  early  months  of  11 38  was 
crushed  in  detail.  Castle  after  castle  was  taken  ;  but 
Robert  of  Gloucester  had  now  declared  himself,  and  King 
David,  seeing  Stephen  busily  employed  in  the  South,  in- 
vaded Yorkshire.  It  was  a  great  struggle,  but  the  York- 
shiremen  were  equal  to  the  trial.  Whether  or  no  they 
loved  Stephen  they  hated  the  Scots.  The  great  barons 
who  were  on  the  kings  side  did  their  part ;  the  ancient 
standards  of  the  northern  churches,  of  St.  Peter  of  York, 
St.  Wilfrid  of  Ripon,  and  St.  John  of  Beverley,  were 
hoisted,  and  all  men  flew  to  them.  The  old  archbishop 
Thurstan,  who  had  struggled  victoriously  twenty  years 
before  against  King  Henry  and  the  archbishop  of  Can- 
„    ,     e        terbury  to  boot,  sent  his  suffragan  to  preach 

Battle  of  \  '  ,       ,      ,      •    1  •  . 

the  Stan-  the  national  cause.  Not  only  the  knights  with 
^^^^'  their  men-at-arms,  but  the  husbandmen,  with 

their  sons  and  servants,  the  old  Anglo-Saxon  militia,  the 
parish  priests  at  the  head  of  their  parishioners,  streamed 
forth  over  hill  and  plain,  and  in  the  Battle  of  the  Stan- 
dard, as  it  was  called,  they  beat  the  Scots  at  Cowton 
Moor  with  such  completeness  that  the  rebellion  came  to 
nothing  in  consequence. 

Stephen  felt  no  small  addition  of  strength  from  this 
victory,  but  he  was  nearer  the  end  of  his  treasure  and  the 
days  of  peace  were  over.  Without  money  it 
is  hard  to  act  like  a  statesman:  the  difficulties 
were  too  strong  for  Stephen's  gratitude  and 
good  faith.  Yet  he  began  his  misrule  not  without  some 
method.     The  power  of  Robert  of  Gloucester  lay  chiefly 


A.  D.  1 1 38.  Stephen  a?id  Matilda. 


Stephen's 

imprudent 

policy. 


\ 


% 


19 

in  his  influence  with  the  great  earls  who  represented  the 
families  of  the  Conquest.      Stephen  also  would  have  a 
court  of  great  earls,  but  in  trying  to  make  himself  friends 
he  raised  up  persistent  enemies.     He  raised     „• 
new  men  to  new  earldoms,  but  as  he  had  no    e^all"'" 
spare  domains  to  bestow,  he  endowed  them  with  pen> 
sions  charged   on   the   Exchequer  :  thus   impairing   the 
crown  revenue  at  the  moment  that  his  personal  authority 
was  becoming   endangered.     To   refill   the   treasury  he 
next  debased  the  coinage.    To  recruit  his  mili-     ^. 
tary  power,  diminished  by  the  rebellion,  and     dSd. 
by  the  fact  that  the  weakness  of  his  administration  was 
letting  the  county  organisation  fall  into  decay,  he  called 
m  Fleming  mercenaries.    The  very  means  that     ,, 
he  took  to  strengthen  his  position  ruined  him      hiponSr' 
The  mercenaries  alienated  the  people:  the  debased  coin- 
age destroyed  the  confidence  of  the  merchants  and  the 
towns:  the  hew  and  unsubstantial  earldoms  provoked  the 
real  earls  to  further  hostility ;  and  the  newly  created  lords 
demanded  of  the  king  new  privileges  as  the  reward  and 
security  for  their  continued  services. 

Still  the  clergy  were  faithful ;  and   the  clergy  were 
very  powerful :  they  conducted  the  mechanism  of  govern- 
ment,they  filled  the  national  councils;  thev    , 
w-ere  rich  too,  and  earnest  in  the  preservation    fh: ctgf 
of  peace      With  Henry  of  Winchester  his  brother,  Ro^er 
of  Salisbury  his  chief  minister,  Theobald  of  Canterbury 
his  nominee,  he  might  still  flourish:     The  Church  at  all 
events  was  sure  to  outlive  the  barons.     With  almost  in- 
credible  imprudence   Stephen    contrived   to   throw   the 
c  ergy  mto  opposition,  and  by  one  fell  stroke  to  break  up 
all  the  administrative  machinery  of  the  realm.     It  may 
be  that  he  was  growing  suspicious,  or  jealous  :  it  is  more 
probable  that  he  acted  under  foolish  aivice.    Anyhow  he 


c  a 


20 


TJie  Early  Plantagencts.        a.d.  1139. 


Roger  of  Salisbury,  the  great  justiciar  of  Henry  I.,  was 
now  an  old  man.  He  had  contributed  more  perhaps  than 
Ro^er  of  ^^Y  Other  to  set  Stephen  on  the  throne,  and 
Salisbury.  had  Hot  Only  first  placed  in  his  hands  the 
sinews  of  war,  but  had  maintained  the  revenue  of  the 
crown  by  maintaining  the  administration  of  justice  and 
finance.  He  had  not  served  for  naught.  He  had  got  his 
son  made  chancellor  ;  two  of  his  nephews  were  bishops, 
one  of  them  treasurer  of  the  king  as  well.  He  had  no 
humble  idea  of  his  own  position :  he  had  built  castles 
the  like  of  which  for  strength  and  beauty  were  not  found 
north  of  the  Alps.  He  had  perhaps  some  intention  of 
holding  back  when  the  struggle  came  and  of  turning  the 
scale  at  the  last  moment  as  seemed  him  best,  an  inten- 
tion which  he  shared  with  the  chief  of  his  brethren  ;  for 
Henry  of  Winchester,  although  the  kings  brother,  was 
before  all  things  a  churchman ;  and  Theobald  of  Can- 
terbury, although  he  owed  his  place  either  to  the  good 
will  or  to  the  connivance  of  Stephen,  was  consistently 
and  more  or  less  actively  a  faithful  adherent  to  Matilda 
and  her  son. 

How  much  Stephen  knew  of  the  designs  of  the 
bishops  we  know  not,  what  he  suspected  we  can  only 
Arrest  of  suspect :  but  the  result  was  unmistakeable. 
ihe  bishops.  He  tried  a  surprise  that  turned  to  his  own 
discomfiture.  He  arrested  bishop  Roger  and 
his  nephew,  Alexander  bishop  of  Lincoln,  and  compelled 
them  to  resign  the  castles  which  he  pretended  to  think 
they  were  fortifying  against  him.  At  once  the  church 
was  in  arms :  sacrilege  and  impiety  determined  even 
Henry  of  Winchester,  who  in  11 39  became  legate  of  the 
see  of  Rome,  against  his  brother. 

This  would  have  been  hard  enough  to  bear,  as  many 
far  stronger  kings  than  Stephen  had  learnt  and  were  to 
learn  to  their  cost.     But  the  ver>'  men  on  whom  his  vio- 


} 


A.D.  1 141. 


Stephen  and  Matilda. 


21 


^SSt 


t  V 


i 


♦ 
'f!^ 


i"^   y 


lence  had  fallen  were  his  own  ministers,  justiciar,  chan- 
cellor, and  treasurer.  The  Church  was  in  danger,  the 
ministers  were  in  prison  ;  justice,  taxation,  j.^^  ^^_ 
police,  everything  else  was  in  abeyance  ;  and  press  Matil- 
just  at  the  right  time  the  empress  landed.  ''^"''^''• 
At  Christmas  1139  the  whole  game  was  up:  the  land 
was  divided,  the  empress  had  the  west,  Stephen  the  east ; 
the  Church  was  in  secession  from  the  State.  Roger  died 
broken-hearted.  Henry  was  negotiating  with  the  em- 
press. The  administration  had  come  to  naught,  there  were 
no  courts  of  law,  no  revenue,  no  councils  of  the  realm. 
There  was  not  even  strength  for  an  honest  open  civil  war. 
The  year  1 140  is  filled  with  a  mere  record  of  anarchy. 
At  the  court  at  Whitsuntide  only  one  bishop  attended  and 
he  was  a  foreigner.  Stephen  we  see  now  obdurate,  now 
penitent ;  now  energetic,  now  despondent ;  the  barons 
selling  their  services  for  new  promises  from  each  side. 

It  is  now  that  the  period  begins  which  William  of 
Newburgh  likens  to  the  days  when  there  was  no  king 
in  Israel,  but  every  man  did  what  was  right  Bednniner 
in  his  own  eyes,  nay,  not  what  was  right,  but  of  anarchy. 
what  was  wrong  also,  for  every  lord  was  king  and  tyrant 
in  his  own  house.  Castles  innumerable  sprang  up,  and 
as  fast  as  they  were  built  they  were  filled  with  devils ; 
each  lord  judged  and  taxed  and  coined.  The  feudal 
spirit  of  disintegration  had  for  once  its  full  play.  Even 
party  union  was  at  an  end,  and  every  baron  fought  on 
his  own  behalf.  Feudalism  had  its  day,  and  the  com- 
pleteness of  its  triumph  ensured  its  fall. 

All   this   was   not   realised  at  once.     The  new  year 
1 141  found  Stephen  besieging  Lincoln,  which     Stephen 
was  defended  by  Ranulf,  earl  of  Chester,  and    '4^" 

--,    ,  '  '  prisoner, 

Kobert  of  Gloucester.     Stephen  had  not  yet     1141. 

been  defeated  in  the  field,  and  he  had  still  by  his  side  a 

considerable  body  of  barons,  though  none  so  great  as 


22 


The  Early  Plantagcncis. 


A.D.  II41. 


the  almost   independent  earl   whom   he   was   attacking. 
Now,    however,  he    was   outmatched    or  out-generaled. 
After  a  struggle  marked  chiefly  by  his  own  valiant  ex- 
ploits he  was  taken  prisoner,  and  sent  to  the  empress  by 
her  brother  as  a  great  prize.     The  battle  of  Lincoln  was 
fought  on  February  2,  and  a  week  after  Easter,  in  a  great 
council  of   bishops,    barons,    and   abbots,    Matilda,   the 
Election  of      cmpress  of  the  Romans,  was  elected  Lady  of 
Matilda.         England  at  Winchester.     This  assembly  was, 
it  must  be  allowed,  mainly   clerical:    but    there    is   no 
doubt  that  it  represented  the  wishes  of  a  great  part  of 
the  barons,  who,  so  far  as  they  were  willing  to  have  a 
king   or   queen   at  all,   preferred   Matilda    to    Stephen. 
Henry  of  Winchester,  however,  took   advantage  of  the 
opportunity   to  make  somewhat  extravagant   claims  on 
behalf  of  his  order,  declaring  that  the  clergy  had  the  right 
to  elect  the  sovereign,  and  actually  carrying  out  the  cere- 
mony of  election.     The  citizens  of  London  pleaded  hard 
for  the  release  of  Stephen,  whom  they,  six  years  before, 
had  elected  with  scarcely  less  audacious  assumption,  but 
in  vain.     Henr\-  was  now  at  the  crest  of  the  wave,  and 
he  saw  the  triumph  of  the  Church  in  the  humiliation  of 
his  brother.     War  was  the  great  trial  by  combat  ordained 
between  kings.     Stephen  had  failed  in  that  ordeal;  judg- 
ment of  God  was  declared  against  him ;  like  Saul  he  was 
found  wanting. 

So  Matilda  became  the  Lady  of  the  English ;  she  was 
not  crowned,  because  perhaps  the  solemn  consecration 
which  she  had  received  as  empress  sufficed,  or  perhaps 
Stephen's  royalty  was  so  far  forth  indefeasible  ;  but  she 
acted  as  full  sovereign  nevertheless,  executed  charters, 
bestowed  lands  and  titles,  and  exerted  power  sufticient  to 
show  that  she  had  all  the  pride  and  tyrannical  intolerance 
of  her  father,  without  his  prudence  or  self-control.  She, 
too,  was  on  the  crest  of  her  wave  and  had  her  litde  day. 


\ 


s 


♦  , 


^M 


■ 


4 


( 


.\.D.  1 141. 


Stephen  and  Matilda. 


23 


But  the  barons  looked  coolly  on  the  triumph  ;  it  w-as 
their  policy  that  neither  competitor  should  de-  Purpose  of 
stroy  the  other,  but  that  both  should  grow  the  barons. 
weaker  and  weaker,  and  so  leave  room  for  each  several 
feudatory  to  grow  stronger  and  stronger.  Neither  king 
nor  empress  had  anything  like  command  of  his  or  her 
friends,  or  anything  like  general  acceptance. 

Stephen's  fortunes  reached  their  lowest  depth  when 
the  Londoners  a  few  days  before  Midsummer  received 
the    empress  as  their  sovereign.     She  had  no     jvi^tiid: 


las 


r4 


sooner  achieved  success  than  she  began  to  imprudent 
alienate  the  friends  who  had  won  it  for  her. 
The  bishop  of  Winchester,  although  he  Imd  not  scrupled 
to  sacrifice  his  brother's  title  to  the  exigencies  of  his 
policy,  bore  no  grudge  against  the  queen  and  her  chil- 
dren, and  endeavoured  to  prevail  on  the  empress  to 
guarantee  to  the  latter  at  least  their  mother's  inheritance. 
Matilda  would  be  satisfied  with  nothing  less  than  the  utter 
ruin  of  the  rival  house,  and  although  the  queen  was 
raising  a  great  army  in  Kent  for  Stephen's  liberation  she 
refused  even  to  temporise.  Henry  in  disgust  retired  from 
court  and  took  up  his  residence  at  Winchester  ;  thither 
the  empress,  having  in  vain  attempted  to  recall  him  to 
her  side,  and  having  made  London  too  hot  to  hold  her, 
followed  him,  and  established  herself  in  the  royal  castle 
as  he  had  done  in  the  episcopal  palace.  Winchester 
thu»  witnessed  the  gathering  of  the  two  hosts  for  a  new 
struggle. 

The  queen  brought  up  her  army  from  Kent,  the  king 
of  Scots  and  the  earl  of  Gloucester  brought  up  their 
forces  from  the  north  and  west.  But  the  queen  showed 
the  most  promptitude.  The  baronage  who  were  not 
bound  to  the  legate's  policy  refused  to  complete  the 
king's  ruin,  and  stood  aloof,  intending  to  profit  by  the 
common  weakness  of  the  competitors.     In  attempting  to- 


24 


The  Early  Plaiitagcncts. 


A.D.  1141. 


secure  the  empress's  retreat  to  Devizes,  on  September 
The  earl  of      14,  the  earl  of  Gloucester  was  taken  prisoner, 

Gloucester  j    ^i        ^  •         ^  ,  .  ' 

taken  and  the  two  parties  from  this  time   for^vard 

prisoner.         played   with   more   equal  chances.      An   ex- 
change of  the  two  great  captives  was  at  once  proposed, 
but  mutual  distrust,  and  the  desire  on  both  sides  to  take 
the  utmost  advantage  of  their  situation,  delayed  the  ne- 
gotiation for  six  weeks.     Stephen  at  Bristol,  Robert  at 
Rochester,  must  have  watched  the  debate  with  longing 
eyes.    The  countess  Mabilia  of  Gloucester  was  prepared 
to  ship  Stephen  otf  to  Ireland  if  a  hair  of  Robert's  head 
were  injured  ;  the  queen  demanded  no  less  security  for 
Exchanse       her  husband's  safety.     At  last,  on  All  Saints' 
of  prisoners.     Day,  both  were  released,  each  leaving  security 
in  the  hands  of  the  other  that  the  terms  should  be  fairly 
observed. 

As  soon  as  they  were  free  they  both  prepared  for  a 
continuance  of  the  struggle.   The  empress  fixed  her  court 
again  at   Oxford ;  Stephen,  who  seems  at  once  to  have 
resumed  his  royal  position,  the  claims  founded    by  the 
election  of  the  empress  suffering  a  practical  refutation  by 
his  release,  re-entered  London.    The  legate,  still  desiring 
to  direct  the  storm,  called  a  council  at  Westminster  in 
December,  where  he  apologised  for  his  conduct  rather 
than  defended  it,  and  where  the  king  laid  a  formal  com- 
plaint against  the  treason  of  the  men  who  had  taken  and 
imprisoned  him.     But  the  time  for  open  hostilities  was 
deferred,  the  certain  exhaustion  which  after  a  few  months 
more  renders  the  history  an  absolute  blank,  was  beginning 
to  tell.    Six  months  passed  without  a  sign.     By  Easter 
the  empress  had  determined  to  send  for  her  husband 
Geoffrey  would  not  obey  his  wife's  summons  until  he 
had  earl  Robert's  personal  assurance  that  he  should  not 
be  made  a  fool  of     Earl  Robert  went  to  persuade  his 
brother-in-law  to  throw  his  sword  into  the  scale.     Geof- 


-<» 


^ 


A.D.  1 142-1 146.   Stephen  and  Matilda. 


Fi 


25 

frey  determined  first  to  secure  Normandy,  and  kept  the 
earl  at  work  there  until  the  news  from  England  peremp- 
torily recalled  him. 

Stephen  had  waited  until  Robert  had  left  England 
and  then,  emerging  from  his   sick  room,  had  pounced 
down  upon  Wareham,  the  strong  castle  which 
the  earl  had  entrusted  to  his  son,  had  taken     i^Xn  in 
It,  and  then  hastening  northwards,  had  burnt     "'*^* 
the  town  of   Oxford  and  shut  up   the   empress   in   the 
castle.     There  she  remained  until  her  brother  could  suc- 
cour her.     He  returned  at  once,  recovered  Wareham  and 
some  castles  in  Dorset,  and  called  together  the  forces  of 
his  party  at  Cirencester.     But  the  winter  was  now  ad- 
vancing ;  the  empress  contrived  a  romantic  escape  in  the 
snow  from   Oxford,  and  before  active  war  could  be  re- 
sumed she  directed  that  the  castle  should  be  surrendered 
So  the  year  1142  comes  to  an  end,  and  we  see  the  two 
parties  resting  in  their  exhaustion.     The  western  shires 
acknowledged  Matilda,  who  reigned  at   Glou- 
cester ;    the   eastern  acknowledged   Stephen,    kingdom 
who  made  Kent  his  head-quarters.     The  mid-     '^''''^'''^• 
land  counties  were  the  seat  of  languid  warfare,  partly 
carried  on  about  Oxford,  which  was  a  central  debating 
ground  between  the  two  competitors,  partly  in  Lincoln^ 
shire  and  Essex,  where  Stephen  had  to  keep   in   order 
those  great  nobles  who  aimed  at  independence.    Geoffrey 
de  Mandeville,  the  earl  of  Essex,  who  accepted  his  earl- 
dom  from  both  the  courts,  employed  him  chiefly  in  1143 
and   1 144.     The  earl  of  Chester,  who  was  uniformly  op- 
posed to  Stephen,  but  who  no  doubt  fought  for  himself 
far  more  than  for  the  empress,  held  Lincoln  as  a  constant 
thorn  in  the  royal  side.     In  1 145  Oxfordshire  and  Berk- 
shire were  the  seat  of  war  ;  in  1 146  Stephen  surprised 
the  earl  of  Chester  at  Northampton  and  compelled  him 
to  give  up  Lincoln,  and  now  for  the  first  time  seems  to 


26 


The  Early  Plantagcncts.       a.d.  1146. 


have  thought  himself  a  king.  In  despite  of  all  prece- 
dent and  all  prejudice,  defying  a  superstition  to  which 
even  Henr>'  II.  thought  it  wise  to  bow,  that  no  king 
should  wear  his  crown  within  the  walls  of  Lincoln,  he 
wore  his  crown  there  on  Christmas  Day. 

In  passing  thus  rapidly  over  these  years  we  are  but 
following  the  example  of  our  historians,  who  share  in  the 
Period  of  "^     exhaustion  of  the  combatants,  recording  little 
anlrchy.         but  an  occasional  affray  and  a  complaint  of 
general  misery.     Neither  side  had  strength  to  keep  down 
?ts  friends,  much  less   to   encounter  its   enemiesl     The 
price  of  the  support  given  to  both  was  the  same— abso- 
lute licence  to  build  castles,  to  practise  private  war,  to 
hang  their  private  enemies,  to  plunder  their  neighbours, 
to   coin  their   money,  to   exercise  their   petty  tyrannies 
as  they  pleased.    England  was  dismembered.     North   of 
the  Tees  ruled  the  king  of  Scots,   David  the  lawgiver 
and  the  church  builder,  under  whose  rule  Cumberland, 
Westmoreland,   and    Northumberland   were    safe;  the 
bishopric  of  Durham,  too,  under  his  wing,  had  peace. 
The  West  of  England,  as  we  have  seen,  was  under  the 
earl  of  Gloucester,  who  in  his  sister's  name  founded  earl- 
doms, and  endeavoured  to   concentrate  in  the  hands  of 
his  supporters  such  vestiges  of  the  administrative  organi- 
sation as  still  subsisted.     But  the  great  earls  of  the  house 
of  Beaumont,  Roger  of  Leicester  and  Waleran  of  Meulan, 
who  dominated  the  midland  shires,  chose  to  act  as  inde- 
pendent sovereigns  and  made   terms   both   in   England 
and  Normandy  as  if  they  had  been  kings. 

In  all  the  misery,  and  exhaustion,  and  balance  of 
evils,  however,  time  was  working.  The  first  generation 
of  actors  was  leaving  the  stage,  and  a  new  one— if  not 
better,  still  freed  from  the  burden  of  odium,  duplicity,  and 
dishonesty  which  had  marked  the  first— came  into  play. 
And  the  balance  of  change  veered  now  to  Stephen's  side. 


A.D,  1 147. 


Stephen  and  Matilda. 


27 


The  year  1145  cut  off  Geoffrey  de  Mandeville  in  the  midst 
of  his  sins,  the  year  11 43  had  seen  the  death  of  Miles  of 
Hereford,  the  empress's  most  faithful  servant.  In  1147 
the  great  earl  Robert  of  Gloucester  passed  away,  and  it 
is  no  small  sign  of  the  absolute  deadness  of    r.     .. 

•  ,  .  ueparture 

the  country  at  the  time,  that   both  his  death     of  Matilda. 
and  the   departure   of  the   empress,  which  must   have 
almost  coincided  with  it,  are  not  even  noticed  in  the  best 
of  the  contemporary  historians. 

This  year  1 147  sees  Stephen  again  ostensibly  the  sole 
ruler ;  really,  however,  devoid  of  power,  as  he  had  al- 
ways been  of  counsel,  his  only  strength  beinjj     t, 

.,  ,  .  ,  •'  *  o       1  he  second 

the  weakness  of  everyone  else.  This  year  is  Crusade, 
marked  by  the  great  crusade  of  the  emperor  Conrad  of 
Hohenstaufen,  and  of  Lewis  \TI.,  and  Eleanor  of  Aqui- 
taine,  an  expedition  in  which  England  nationally  had  no 
share,  and  in  which  few  of  the  barons  took  part,  but 
which  was  recruited  to  a  considerable  extent  by  volun- 
teers from  the  English  ports.  The  capture  of  Lisbon 
from,  the  Moors,  and  the  placing  of  the  kingdom  of 
Portugal  upon  a  sound  footing  thereby,  was  the  work 
mainly  of  the  English  pilgrims,  but  it  was  not  a  national 
work,  and  it  touches  our  history  merely  as  suggesting  a 
probability  that  some  of  our  most  turbulent  spirits  may 
have  joined  the  crusade,  and  thereby  increased  the  chances 
of  peace  at  home.  With  1147,  then,  begins  a  new  series 
of  movements  and  a  new  set  of  actors,  the  details  of 
whose  doings  are  involved  and  obscure. 

The  death  of  earl  Robert  and  the  departure  of  the 
empress  left  their  party  without  an  ostensible  head  ; 
for  Geoffrey  of  Anjou  was  far  more  intent  on  securing 
Normandy  than  England,  and  his  son  Henry  was  only 
just  springing  into  manhood,  David  of  Scotland  being 
looked  upon  apparently  as  the  guardian  of  his  interests. 
Henry  of  Winchester  had  lost  the  legation,  which  had 


28  The  Early  Plantagcnets.       a.d.  1148. 

given  him  such  great  strength  in  the  earher  part  of  the 
struo-de :  the  popes  who  had  conferred  it  and 

Procccdinss      ^^^    too      '  i:     v 

at  Rome.        promised  to  renew  it,  had  rapidly  given  way  to 
successors  who  were  less  favourable,  and  the  chair  of  St. 
Peter  was  now  filled  by  Eugenius  III.,  the  friend  of  St. 
Bernard,  who  was  at  this  time  the  great  spiritual  power 
in  European  politics.     The  scantiness  of  our  authorities 
does  not  allow  us  to  speak  with  certainty,  or  to  decide 
whether  St.  Bernard  in  the  English  quarrel  was  moved 
by  a  conviction  of  Stephen's  wrong-doing,  or  by  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Cistercian  order ;  it  is,  however,  certain 
that  the  king  and  his  brother  by  attempting  to  force  their 
nephew,  afterwards  canonised  as  St.  William,  into  the  see 
of  York,  in  opposition  to  the  Cistercian  abbot  of  Foun- 
tains, had  thrown  that  strong  order,  of  which  Bernard 
was  the  ornament,  into  opposition ;  and  it  is  also  cer- 
tain that  the  strings  of  political  intrigue  were  held  by 
Eugenius  III.,  and  that  every  possible  advantage  was 
given  by  him  to   Henry   of  Anjou.     The   Englishman, 
Nicolas   of    St.    Alban's,    afterwards   pope   Adrian    IV., 
was  a  close  confidant  of  the  pope,  and  John  of  Salisbury, 
the  friend  of  Becket,  was  a  close  confidant  of  Nicolas; 
Becket  was  the  clerk  and  secretary  of  Archbishop  Theo- 
bald of  Canterbury.     These  may  have  been  the  three 
strands  of  a  strong  diplomatic  cord.     The  first  impulse, 
however,  which  was  to  bring  about  Stephen's  final  hu- 
miliation  was,   as   before,  given  by  himself.     In   1148, 
Eugenius  III.  called  a  council  at  Rheims.     Archbishop 
Theobald  asked  leave  to  go.     Stephen  suspected  that  a 
plot  would  be  concocted  on  behalf  of  the  empress  and 
Quarrel  her  SOU  ;  Henry  of  Winchester  suspected  that 

%viih  the  the  archbishop  wanted  to  apply  for  the  lega- 

archbishop.      ^.^^     ^^^^^^  ^^,^g  therefore  refused,  and  Theo- 

bald  went  without  leave;    Stephen  took  the   measures 
usual  in  such  cases,  confiscation  and  threats,  and  sent 


A.D.  1 149.  Stephen  and  Matilda. 


29 


his  chief  r  linisters,  Richard  de  Lucy  and  William  Martel, 
to  counteract  the  archbishop's  influence  in  the  council. 
This  had  the  efifect  of  throwing  Theobald,  who  had 
hitherto  only  been  restrained  by  his  oath  of  allegiance 
from  taking  the  side  of  the  empress,  openly  into  the  arms 
of  her  party ;  so  much  so  that  he  preferred  exile  to  sub- 
mission, and  even  went  so  far  as  to  consecrate  the  cele- 
brated Gilbert  Foliot,  the  abbot  of  Gloucester,  and 
nominee  of  Henry  of  Anjou,  to  the  see  of  Hereford,  in 
opposition  to  both  king  and  bishops.  Neither  Stephen 
nor  Theobald  was,  however,  as  yet  in  a  position  to  act 
freely.  Stephen  confiscated  and  Theobald  excommuni- 
cated, but  a  hollow  peace  was  patched  up  between  them 
in  the  autumn  by  Hugh  Bigot  and  the  bishops. 

In  1 149,  Henry  of  Anjou,  now  sixteen  years  old,  was 
knighted  by  his  great  uncle  David,  at  Carlisle.  Stephen, 
accounting  this  the  beginning  of  war,  hastened  Question  of 
to  York ;  but  went  no  farther,  and  that  cloud  succession. 
seemed  to  have  passed  away.  The  king  was  growing 
old,  and  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  secure  the  succes- 
sion to  his  son  Eustace ;  the  military  interest  of  the  time, 
always  very  languid,  now  flags  altogether,  and  the  real 
business  is  conducted  at  the  papal  court.  There,  as 
usual,  fortune  seems  to  halt  according  to  the  depth  of 
the  purses  of  the  rivals,  the  balance,  however,  in  the 
main  inclining  as  the  pope  would  have  it.  Sometimes 
there  is  talk  of  peace ;  now  the  bishop  of  Winchester  is 
to  be  made  archbishop  of  Wessex,  now  Theobald  is  to 
have  the  legation ;  now  the  bishops  are  persuaded  to  re- 
cognise Eustace,  now  they  are  forbidden  peremptorily  to 
do  any  such  thing.  And  this  goes  on  for  five  years,  Ste- 
phen relieving  the  monotony  of  the  time  by  an  occa- 
sional expedition  into  the  West  of  England. 

Henry,  however,  was  making  good  use  of  his  time  on 
the  Continent.    Eustace,  whose  marriage  with  Constantia 


30  The  Early  Planiagenets.       a.d.  1152. 

of  France,  a  marriage  purchased  by  the  t:easiires  of 
bishop  Roger  in  1 139,  made  him  a  dangerous 
Henry'oV       competitor,  laid  claim  to  Normandy.     Geof- 
^"j*""*  frey,  after  defending  it  on   his   son's  behalf 

during  two  years,  finally  made  it  over  to  him  in  1 151  and 
then  "died.  Henry  the  next  year  married  Eleanor  of 
Aquitaine,  the  divorced  wife  of  Lewis  VII.,  and  so  se- 
cured nearly  the  whole  of  Western  France.  By  the 
Christmas  of  1152  he  was  ready  to  make  a  bold  stroke 

for  England  also. 

And  England  was  ready  for  him.     The  bishops  were 
watching  for  their  time.     The  young  Eustace  was  offend- 
ing and  oppressing.    The  king  had  now  thrown  the  great 
ho'use  of  Leicester  as  well  as  the  prelates  into  determined 
opposition.     The  cessation  of  justice  and  the  prevalence 
of  private  war  made  everyone  long  for  any  change  that 
would  bring  rest.      In  11 52  the  bishops,  acting  under 
instructions  from  Rome,  finally  refused  to  sanction  the 
coronation  of  Eustace,  and  Stephen,  having  again  tried 
force,  was  compelled  to  acquiesce.     But  he 
Heiry,°         saw  the  end  approaching.     In  January  11 53 
"53-  Henry  of  Anjou  landed.    His  friends  gathered 

round  him,  Stephen  and  Eustace  collected  their  mer- 
cenaries. At  Malmesbury,  and  again  at  Wallingford,  the 
two  armies  stood  face  to  face,  but  the  great  barons  re- 
fused to  abide  by  the  decision  of  arms ;  on  both  occasions 
they  mediated,  and  the  armies  separated  without  a  blow. 
Just  after  the  second  meeting  Eustace  died,  and  Stephen 
whose  health  was  failing,  who  had  lost  his  noble-hearted 
wife  in  11 52,  and  whose  surviving  children  were  too 
young  to  be  exposed  to  the  chances  or  risks  of  a  dis- 
.  puted  succession,  could  only  give  way.     The 

tion^°fo?'         negotiations,  begun  at  Wallingford,  were  car- 
P*^""  ried  on  and  completed  by  a  treaty  at  West- 

minster, concluded    in    November,    in    which    Stephen 


A.D.   1 154. 


Stephai  and  Matilda. 


31 


recognised   Henry  as   his   heir,  and  Henry  guaranteed 
the  rights  of  Stephen's   children  to   the  inheritance  of 
their  parents.     At  the  same  time  a  scheme  of  reform, 
which  was  to  replace  the  administrative  system  of  Henry 
I.  on  its  basis,  was  determined  on,  the  details  of  which 
form  a  clue  to  the  early  policy  of  the  reign  of  Henry  II. 
Henry  left  England  some  three  months  after  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  peace.     His  life,  it  was  said,  was  not  safe, 
and  the  pressure  which  he  had  to  put  upon  Stephen  to 
induce  him  to  carry  out  the  reforms  was  only  too  likely 
to  result  in  the  renewal  of  war.     He  went  away  about 
Easter  11 54.     Stephen  blundered  on  for  six     Stephen's 
months  and  then  died ;  not  of  a  broken  heart,     dei?hrii'54. 
perhaps,  as  the  kings  of  history  generally  die,  but  cer- 
tainly  a  disappointed  man. 

The  reign  of  Stephen  was,  it  may  be  fairly  said,  the 
period  at  which  all  the  evils  of  feudalism  came  in  Eng- 
land into  full  bearing,  previous  to  being  cut  off  and 
abolished  for  ever  under  his  great  successor.  The  reign 
exemplifies  to  us  what  the  whole  century  that  followed 
the  Conquest  must  have  been  if  there  had  not  been 
strong  kings  like  William  I.  and  Henry  I.  sturdily  to 
repress  all  the  disintegrating  designs  of  their  barons 
and  to  protect  the  people.     The  personal  cha-     ^   . 

.  r  o        1  ,  tstimate  of 

racter  ot  Stephen  needs  no  comment.  He  was  Stephen's 
brave.  He  was  at  least  so  far  gentle  that  none  ^^'''■^'^'"• 
of  the  atrocious  cruelties  alleged  against  his  predecessors 
are  attributed  to  him.  He  was  false,  partly  no  doubt 
under  the  pressure  of  circumstances,  which  he  could  not 
control,  but  in  which  he  had  involved  himself  by  his  first 
betrayal  of  faith.  What  may  be  the  legal  force  of  his 
election  by  the  nation  we  need  not  ask  :  it  was  the 
breach  of  his  oath  that  condemned  him.  No  man  trusted 
him ;  and  as  he  trusted  no  one,  knowing  that  he  did  not 
deserve  trust,  and  that  those  who  had  betrayed  their 


32 


The  Early  Planiagaicts.        a.d.  1154. 


oath  to  his  uncle  would  not  hesitate  to  betray  their 
oaths  to  him,  he  expected  no  one  to  trust  him.  He 
was  not  great,  either  for  good  or  for  evil,  in  himself.  If 
he  had  had  more  wisdom  he  might  have  shown  more 
honesty;  certainly  if  he  had  been  more  honest  he 'would 
have  gained  more  credit  for  wisdom.  Had  he  been 
either  a  more  unscrupulous  knave  or  a  more  honest 
man  he  would  certainly  have  been  far  more  successful. 


CHAPTER  III. 


Importance 
attached  by 
contempo- 
raries to 
Henry's 
accession. 


THE  EARLY  YEARS  OF  HENRY  II. 

Terms  of  Henry's  accession — His  character — His  early  reforms — 
His  relations  with  France — War  of  Toulouse — Summary  of  nine 
years'  work. 

Very  few  epochs  of  history  are  more  clearly  marked 
than  the  accession  of  Henry  II.  Most  great  eras  are 
determined,  and  their  real  importance  ascer- 
tained, long  after  the  event  ;  the  famous  Par- 
liament of  Simon  de  Montfort,  in  1265,  for 
instance,  is  scarcely  named  by  the  contempo- 
rary historians,  and  only  rises  into  importance 
as  later  history  unfolds  its  real  bearings.  But  the  succes- 
sion of  Henry  is  hailed  by  the  writers  of  his  time  as  a  dawn 
of  hope,  a  certain  omen  of  restoration  and  refreshing. 
Often  and  often,  it  is  true,  such  omens  are  discerned  on 
the  accession  of  a  new  king ;  men  hasten  to  salute  the 
rising  sun  ;  good  wishes  to  the  new  sovereign  take  the 
form  of  prophecy,  and,  where  they  are  fulfilled,  partly  help 
on  their  own  fulfilment.  Here,  however,  we  have  omens 
that  were  amply  fulfilled,  and  an  epoch  which  those  who 
lived  in  it  were  the  first  to  recognise.  The  fact  proves 
how  weary  England  was  of  Stephen's  incompetency,  how 
thoroughly  she  had  learned  the  miserable  consequences 


. 


1 


cH.  III.        Early  Years  of  Henry  IL 


33 


of  a  feudal  system  of  society  unchecked  by  strong  go- 
vernment, how  readily  she  welcomed  the  young  and 
inexperienced  but  strong  and,  in  the  main,  honest  rule 
of  Henry. 

Henry  II.  was  born  in  1133  ;  and  if  we  may  believe 
the  testimony  of  Roger  Hoveden,  who  was  one  of  his 
chaplains,  and  a  very  conscientious  compiler    you  h 
of  histories,  he  was  recognised  by  Henry  I.  as     education  of 
his  successor  directly  after  his  birth.     When     ^^™'^- 
his  grandfather  died  he  was  two  years  old.     His  father 
and  mother  made,  as  we  have  seen,  a  very  ill-concerted 
effort  to  secure  the  succession,  and  it  was  not  until  the 
boy  was  eight  years  old  that  the  struggle  for  the  crown 
really  began.      In    1141    he    was  brought    to   England; 
then  no  doubt  he  learned  a  dutiful  hatred  of  Stephen, 
and  was  trained  in  the  use  of  arms ;  but  whether  he  re- 
ceived his  training  under  his  father  in  France  or  under 
his  uncle,  Robert  of  Gloucester,  in  England,  or  under  his 
great  uncle,  David  of  Scotland,  we  are  not  told.     Only 
we  know  that,  when  he  was  sixteen,  he  was  knighted 
at    Carlisle  by  King  David  ;    that,   like  a  wise  boy,  he 
determined  to  secure  his  French  dominions  before   he 
attempted  the  recovery  of  England;    that  he  succeeded 
to  Normandy  and  Anjou  in  1 1 5 1,  when  he  was  eighteen ; 
married  his  wife,  the  Duchess  Eleanor  of  Aquitaine  who 
had  been  divorced  from  Lewis  VII.,  and  secured  her  in- 
heritance, when  he  was  nineteen;  that  he  came  again  to 
England  and  forced  Stephen  to  submit  to  terms  when  he  was 
twenty;  and  that  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  succeeded 
him  on  the  throne  in  pursuance  of  those  terms.     These 
dates  are  sufficient  to  prove  that,  although  Henr>'  might 
have  got  considerable  experience  in  arms  as  a  boy  and 
young  man,  he  could  scarcely  have  had  yet  the  educa- 
tion of  a  lawgiver.     Somewhat  of  politics  he  might  have 
learnt,  but  he  had  not  had  time  or  opportunity  to  learn 
M.  H,  D 


The  Early  Plantagenets, 


^4  ■•■  "-^  j^iA.rvj  J.  iLiniu^t litis,  CH.  nr 

a  regular  theory  of  policy,  or  to  create  a  method  of 
government  which,  when  the  time  for  action  came,  he 
might  put  into  execution.  The  extraordinary  power  which 
he  showed  when  the  time  for  action  really  arrived  was 
m  part  a  gift  of  genius ;  partly  too  it  arose  from  his 
wisdom  in  choosing  experienced  advisers,  and  partly  it  was 
an  effect  of  his  following  the  broad  lines  of  his  grand- 
father's administrative  reforms. 

Henry  II.  was  a  very  great  sovereign  in  manv  ways- 
he  was  an  admirable  soldier,  most  careful   in  fomiing 
Character  of    plans,  Wonderfully  rapid  in  the  execution  of 
Henry  II.       ^j^gj-j^ .  j^^  ^^^  ^^  ^^^^  cautious  and  adventu- 
rous, sparing  of  human  life  and  moderate  in  the  use  ot 
victory.      Yet  he  was  far  from  being  a  mild  or  gentle 
enemy;  and  he  was  economical    of  human   life   rather 
because  of  its  cost  in  money  than  from  any  pitifulness. 
If  he  spared  an  enemy  it  was  only  when  he  had  entirely 
disabled  him  from  doing  hann,  or  when  he  was  fully  as- 
sured of  his  power  to  turn  him  into  a  friend.     His  foes 
accused   him   of   being  treacherous,   but   his   treachery 
mainly    consisted   in   letting   them   deceive   themselves. 
Thus  he  was  no  hero  of  probity,  and  his  craft  may  have 
gone  farther  in  the  direction  of  cunning  than  was  ap- 
proved by  the  rough  diplomacy  of  his  time.     He  is  said 
to  have  had  a  maxim,  that  it  is  easier  to  repent  of  words 
than  of  deeds,  and  therefore  wiser  to  break  your  word 
than  to  fulfil  an  inconvenient  obligation ;  but  it  cannot 
His  family       ^c  Said  that  the  facts  of  history  show  him  to 
P«'i<^y-  have  acted  upon  this  shameless  avowal,  cap- 

tious  and  unscrupulous  as  his  policy  more  than  once 
appears.  He  had  no  doubt  a  difficult  part  to  play.  His 
dominions  brought  him  into  close  contact  with  all  the 
great  sovereigns  of  Europe.  He  i:ad  considerable  ambi- 
tions—for himself,  to  held  fast  all  that  he  had  acquired  by 
mheritance  and  marriage;  for  his  sons,  to  obtain  by  mar- 


CH.  III.        Early  Years  of  Hen.y  IL  35 

riage  or  other  settlement  provinces  which,  united  to  their 
hereditary  provision,  might  make  them  either  a  family  of 
allied  sovereigns  or  an  imperial  federation  under  himself, 
and   in  each  form  the  mightiest   house  in  Christendom! 
Such  a  network  of  design  was  spread  before  him  from 
the  first.     As  the  head  of  the  house  of  Anjou  the  kings 
and  princes  of  Palestine  regarded  him  as  their     His  great 
family  representative,  the  grandson   of  King     Ppsifio"  in 
Fulk,  and  the  man  created  for  the  re-conquest     dom'."'^"' 
of  the  East.     To  him  in  their  utmost  need  thev  sent  the 
offer  of  their  crown,  the  keys  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  and 
of  the  Tower  of  David.     As  the  head  of  the  Normans 
he  was  looked  up  to  by  the  Sicilian  king  as  the  presump- 
tive   successor,  and  had  the  strange   fortune   and  self- 
restraint  to  decline  the  offer  of  a  second  crown.     The 
Italians  thought  him  a  likely  competitor  for  the  empire 
when  they  saw  him  negotiating  for  his  son  John  a  mar- 
riage with  the  heiress  of  Savoy,  which  would  give  him 
the  command  of  the  passes  of  the  Alps ;   Spain  saw  in 
him  the  leader  of  a  new  crusade  against  the  Moors  when 
he  sought  for  his  son  Richard  a  bride  in  the  Princess 
of  Aragon,  whose  portion  would  give  him  the  passes  of 
the  Pyrenees.    Frederick  Barbarossa  might  well  feel  sus- 
picious when  he  heard  that  English  gold  was  given  to 
build  the  walls  of  Milan,  and  when  he  remembered  that 
Henry  the  Lion,  the  great  Duke  of  Saxony  and  Bavaria 
the  head  of   the  Welfic  house,  his    cousin   and   friend 
whom  with  heavy  heart  he  had  sacrificed  to  the  neces- 
sities of  state,  was  also  son-in-law  of  the  king  of  the  Eng- 
lish.     So  wide  a  system  of  foreign  alliances  and  designs 
helped  to  make  Henry  both  cautious  and  crafty. 

Nearer  home  his  ability  was  tasked  by  Lewis  VIJ., 
whose   whole  policy  consisted  in  a   habit   of 
pious  falsehood,  who   really  acted   upon  the     LewisVii. 
principle  which  Henry  ironically  formulated,  and  who  by 

D  2 


v./ 


-.6 


Thd"  Early  Plantagcnets, 


CH.  iir. 


either  cowardice  or  faithlessness  made  himself  far  more 
dangerous  than  by  his  strength. 

Henry  was  a  kind  and  loving  father,  but  his  political 
game  led  him  to  sacrifice  the  real  interest  of  his  children 
Henry's         to  the  design  for  their  advancement.     They 
mem  ofS"     soon  found  out  that  he  used  them  like  chess- 
chiidren.         men,  and  could  not  see  the  love  which  prompted 
his  design.     To  his  people  he  was  a  politic  ruler,  a  great 
reformer  and  discipliner ;    not  a  hero  or  patriot,  but  a 
far-seeing  king  who  recognised  that  the  wellbeing  of  the 
nation  was  the  surest  foundation  of  his  own  power.    As  a 
lawgiver  or  financier,  or  supreme  judge,  he  made  his  hand 
felt  everywhere;  and  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  when 
the  need  of  the  reforms  was  forcibly  impressed  on  the 
minds  of  his  subjects  by  their  recent  misery,  his  reforms 
were  welcomed;  he  was  popular  and  beloved.     By  and 
by,   when  he  had  educated  a  new  generation,  and  when 
the  dark  cloud  of  sin  and  sorrow  and  ingratitude  settled 
down  upon   him,  they  forgot  what  he  had  done  in  his 
early  days  ;  but  they  never  forgot  how  great  a  king  he 
was.     \\'e  may  not  say  that  he  was  a  good  man  ;  but  his 
temptations  were  very  great,  and  he  was  sinned  against 
very   much   by  his   wife   and  children.     It  is  only  in  a 
secondary  sense  that  he  was  a  good  king,  for  he  loved  his 
power  first  and  his  people  only  second  ;  but  he  was  good 
so  far  as  selfish  wisdom  and  deep  insight  into  what  is 
good  for  them  could  make  him.    In  his  early  years  he  gave 
promise  of  something  more  than  this,  and  some  share  of 
the  blame  that  attends  his  later  shortcomings  must  rest 
with  those  who  scrupled  at  nothing  that  might  humiliate 
and  disappoint  him. 

In  appearance,  we  are  told,  Henry  was  a  tall,  stout 
man,  with  a  short  neck,  and  projecting  but  very  ex- 
pressive eyes ;  he  was  a  careless  dresser,  a  great  hunter,  a 
man  of  business  rather  than  a  model  of  chivalry-;  capable 


T 


t 


j^ 


i 


r^ 


A.D.  1 153.    Early  Years  of  Henry  II.  37 

of  great  exertion,  moderate  in  mea.t  and  drink,  and  any- 
thing but  extravagant  in  personal  as  opposed  to  official 
expenditure.  He  was  a  builder  of  halls  and  castles,  not 
very  much  of  churches;  but  that  may  easily  be  accounted 
for.  We  are  glad  to  have  him  pictured  for  us  even  with 
this  scanty  amount  of  detail,  for  he  is  well  worth  the  trouble 
of  an  attempt  at  least  to  realise  his  outward  presentment. 
Everyone  knows  Henry  VIII.  by  sight  ;  it  might  be  as 
well  if  we  had  as  definite  an  impression  of  Henry  II. 

We  have  observed,  in  sketching  the  close  of  the  last 
reign,  the  existence  of  certain  terms  by  which  Henry  and 
Stephen,  after  or  in  preparation  for  the  peace  p,  <■ 
ot  November  11 53,  agreed  that  the  country  reform, 
should  be  governed.  Those  terms  are  not  preserved  in 
any  formal  document,  but  they  occur  in  two  or  three  of 
the  historians  of  the  time,  in  a  somewhat  poetical  garb, 
disguised  in  language  adapted  partly  from  the  prophecies 
of  Merlin,  king  Arthur's  seer,  which  were  in  vogue  at  the 
time,  and  partly  from  the  words  of  Holy  Scripture;  and 
yet,  from  the  clue  they  furnish  to  the  reforms  actually 
carried  out  by  Henry,  they  seem  to  be  based  upon  certain 
real  articles  of  agreement. 

By  these  terms  the  administration  of  justice  was  to  be 
restored,  sheriffs  to  be  appointed  to  the  counties,  and  a 
careful  examination  into  their  honesty  and  Terms  of 
justice  to  be  instituted  :  the  castles  which  pacifica°ion. 
had  been  built  since  the  death  of  Henry  I.  were  to  be 
destroyed;  the  coinage  was  to  be  renewed,  a  uniform 
silver  currency  of  lawful  weight;  the  mercenaries  who 
had  flooded  the  kingdom  under  Stephen  were  to  be  sent 
back  to  their  own  countries ;  the  estates  which  had  been 
usurped  were  to  go  to  their  lawful  owners  ;  all  property 
alienated  from  the  crown  was  to  be  resumed,  especially 
the  pensions  on  the  Exchequer  with  which  Stephen  en> 
dowed  his  newly-created  earls  ;  the  royal  demesnes  were 


8 


The  Early  Plantagaicts. 


A.D.  1153. 


to  be  re-stocked,  the  flocks  to  return  to  the  hills,  the 
husbandman  to  the  plough,  the  merchant  to  his  wares  ; 
the  swords  were  to  be  turned  into  ploughshares  and  the 
spears  into  pruning-hooks. 

These  sentences  give  us  a  clue  to  Henr)'s  reforms ; 
that  is,  they  show  us  clearly  the  evils  that  first  called  for 
Meaning  of     his  attention.     The  kingdom,  divided  in  two 
the.e terms.     ^,nder   Stephen,  had  been  in  constant  war; 
the  barons  on  one  side  had  entered  on  the  lands  of  the' 
barons  on  the  other  ;  Stephen  had  confiscated  the  estates 
of  Matilda's   friends  in  the   East   of  England,  Matilda 
had  retaliated  or  authonsed  reprisals  in  the  West.     All 
this  must  be  set  right.     The  crown  had  been  the  greatest 
loser,  and  the  impoverishment  of  the  crown  involved  the 
oppression  of  the  people.     Henry  gained  the  crown  by  a 
national  act ;  he  must  then  resume  not  only  the  wasteful 
grants  of  Stephen  but  those  of  his  mother  also,  and,  in 
his   character   of  king,   know    neither   friends   nor  foes 
amongst  his   own  people.     So  the  Exchequer,  the  board 
which  managed  the  royal  revenue,  must  be  placed  on 
its  old  footing,  and  under  its  old  managers.     With  the 
Exchequer  would  revive  the  ancient  office  of  the  sheriffs, 
to  whom  both  the  collection  of  revenue,  the  administra- 
tion of  justice  in  the  shires,  and  the  maintenance  of  the 
military  force  was  entrusted.     Thus  local  security  would 
restore  and  revive  trade  and  commerce.     And  when  the 
local  administration  of  the  sheriff  was  revived,  no  doubt 
the  feudal  usurpations  of  the  lords  of  castles  and  manors 
must  end.     The  fortified  houses  must  be  pulled  down ; 
no  more  should  the  petty  tyrants   tax  and  judge  their 
men,  fight  their  battles   like   independent  princes,  and 
coin  their  money  as  so  many  kings.     The  great  Peace 
should  be  restored,  of  which  the  king  was  guardian  and 
keeper.     In  fact,  the  golden   age   was  to  return.     Nor 
was  it  to  be  delayed  until  Henry  came  to  the  crown;  it 


\ 


A.D.  1 1 54.    Early  Years  of  He7iry  II. 


39 


^^  W 


i 


Arrival  of 
Henry  as 
successor 
to  Stephen, 
II54- 


was  to  be  Stephen's  last  and  expiatory  task  to  bring 
about  these  happy  results.  Stephen,  as  we  saw,  wanted 
either  the  will  or  the  power  to  accomplish  it. 

Stephen  died  on  October  25,  1154.  Henry  was  in 
France  at  the  time,  and  was  not  able,  owing  to  the 
weather,  to  reach  England  before  December 
8.  During  this  time  the  management  of  affairs 
rested  with  Archbishop  Theobald  of  Canter- 
bury, and  in  some  measure  perhaps  with  his 
secretary,  Thomas  Becket,  who  had  been  so  busy  in 
negotiating  the  succession  of  Henry.  Although  it  was 
the  theory  that  during  the  vacancy  of  the  throne  all  law 
and  police  were  suspended,  and  no  one  could  be  punished 
for  offences  committed  in  a  general  abeyance  of  justice, 
the  country  remained  quiet  during  these  six  weeks. 
Perhaps  the  rogues  w^ere  cowed  by  the  apprehension  of 
a  strong  king  coming,  perhaps  the  religious  obedience 
inculcated  by  the  archbishop  was  really  maintained ; 
perhaps  the  same  bad  weather  that  kept  Henry  in  Nor- 
mandy kept  thieves  and  robbers  within  doors.  Nor 
was  there  any  political  rising  during  the  interregnum. 
Stephen's  children  were  not  thought  of,  at  least  on  this 
side  of  the  Channel,  as  rivals  to  Henry.  The  Bishop  of 
Winchester  had  learnt  moderation,  that  might  in  him 
well  pass  for  wisdom;  he  might  well  feel  that  Henry's 
his  position  was  a  hazardous  one,  to  be  main-  advisers. 
tained  only  by  caution  ;  and  he  had  no  reason,  nor  excuse 
for  seeking  a  reason,  for  evading  the  compact  which  he 
had  had  a  chief  hand  in  making.  It  shows,  however,  his 
importance  that  as  soon  as  Henry  landed,  which  he  did 
near  Southampton,  he  hastened  to  Winchester,  j^j^^hop  of 
and  there  visited  his  powerful  kinsman,  who,  Winchester. 
as  we  learn,  was  now  busily  employed  in  collecting 
statues  and  sculpture  from  southern  Europe,  and  with 
whom   he  made  a  friendship  which,  although  once  or 


40 


The  Early  Plantagcnets. 


A.D.   1 1 54. 


twice  seriously  endangered,  was  never  actually  broken. 
Amongst  the  other  leaders  who  likewise  had  learned 
The  wisdom  we  must  count  the  Empress  Matilda, 

Empress.        ^vho,  Strange  to  say,  appears  to  us  no  more  as 
the  arrogant,  self-willed  virago,  but  as  a  sage  politician 
and  a  wise,  modest,  pious  old  lady,  living  at  Rouen,  and 
ruling  Normandy  in  the  name  of  her  son   with  prudent 
counsel.     Not  a  word  is  said  now  of  her  succeeding  to 
the  throne  or  even   resigning  her  rights  to   Henry;  ail 
that  was  regarded  as  arranged  by  the  settlement  made 
with  Stephen.     Henry  succeeded  without  a  competitor. 
Stephen's  minister,  Richard  de  Lucy,  became  his  minister. 
Theobald        Theobald  continued  to  be,  as  his  office  made 
and  Becket.     him,  the  great  constitutional  adviser;  and,  to 
reconcile  personal  convenience  with  constitutional  prece- 
dent, he  presented  his  secretary  to  the  king  as  his  future 
Chancellor.     Thomas  Becket  thus  entered  on  his  high 
and  fatal  office. 

All  this  done,  Henr>'  appeared  at  Westminster  on 
the  19th  of  December,  and  was  there  crowned  with  the 
Coronation,      ^^^^"^onies  observed  at  his  grandfather's  coro- 
nation, now  more  than  half  a  century  past, 
and  bound  himself  by  the  same  ancient  and  solemn  pro- 
mises which  Ethelred  had  made  to  Dunstan,  and  which 
the   Conqueror,    Henry   I.,   and  Stephen   had   renewed. 
Nor,  when  crowned,  did  he  lose  a  moment :   he  issued  a 
charter,  as  Stephen  had  done,  at  his  coronation,  confirm- 
ing his  grandfather's  laws.     The  same  w^eek  he  held  a 
great  court  and  council  at  Bermondsey.     At  once  he  re- 
established the   Exchequer,  recalling  to  the  head  of  it 
Bishop   Nigel  of  Ely,  whom  Stephen  had  displaced  in 
Banishment     ^  ^^o,  and  Setting  at  work  at  once  with    the 
Oj^^^'^^cena-     busincss  of  the  revenue.      From  this  court  at 
Bermondsey  went   forth   the  decree  that  the 
Flemish  and  other  foreign  mercenaries  should  leave  the 


t 


'^fm^ 


•^ 


A.D.  1 154.    Early  Years  of  He7iry  II.  41 

kingdom  at  once,  and  that  the  castles  built  under  Stephen 
should  be  thrown  down.    The  mercenaries  fled  forthwith. 
Their   presence  was  perhaps   the  most  offensive  of  all 
insults  to   the   national    pride,   and   the   late   reign  had 
taught   Normans  and  Englishmen  that  they  had  now  a 
common  nationality  in  suffering,  if  not  in  conquest.     By 
this    article   of   the   agreement    Henry    faithfully   stood. 
Although  he  fought  all  his  foreign  wars  Avith  mercenaries, 
he  never  but  once — and  that  in  the  greatest  emergency, 
and  to  repel  foreign  mercenaries  brought  against  him  by 
the  rebellious  earls  in  11 74— introduced  any  such  force 
into  England.     Even  Richard  employed  in  the  kingdom 
no  more  foreigners  than  formed  his  ordinary  surround- 
ings, and  it  is  not  until  John's  reign  that   we  find  the 
country  again  oppressed  and  insulted  by  hired  foreign 
soldiery. 

The  demolition  of  the  castles,  which  one  contempo- 
rary writer  reckons  at  three  hundred  and  seventy-five, 
another  a  little  later  at  eleven  hundred  and     t^ 

CC4.  -11  ,  ,  Destruction 

htteen,  was  a  stilJ  greater  boon ;  for  these,  had  of  castles, 
they  been  suffered  to  stand,  would  not  only  have  fitted 
England  to  be  a  constant  scene  of  civil  war,  but  have 
continued  to  afford  to  their  owners  a  shadow  of  claim 
for  the  e.xercise  of  those  feudal  jurisdictions  which  on  the 
Continent  made  every  baron  a  petty  despot.  Castles  were 
unfortunately  not  entirely  destroyed  at  this  time;  the 
older  strongholds,  which  had  been  built  under  Henry  I., 
were  untouched,  and  gave  trouble  enough  in  the  one  civil 
war  that  marks  the  reign  ;  but  the  legal  misuse  of  them 
was  abolished,  and  they  ceased  to  be  centres  of  feudal 
lawlessness. 

Another  measure  which  must  have  been  taken  at  the 
coronation,  when  all  the  recognised  earls  did     p^^^  ^^  ^^^ 
their  homage  and  paid  their  ceremonial  ser-     new  earls. 
vices,  seems   to  have  been  the  degrading  or  cashiering 


42 


The  Early  Plantagcncts. 


A.D.  1 154. 


of  the  supposititious  earls  created  by  Stephen  and  Ma- 
tilda. Some  of  these  may  have  obtained  recognition  by 
getting  new  grants  ;  but  those  who  lost  endowment  and 
dignity  at  once,  like  William  of  Ypres,  the  leader  of  the 
Flemish  mercenaries,  could  make  no  terms.  They  sank 
to  the  rank  from  which  they  had  been  so  incautiously 
raised. 

The  resumption  of  royal  estates,  and  the  restoration 
of  the  dispossessed  on  each  side,  was  probably  a  much 
Resumption  rno^e  difficult  business  than  the  humiliation  of 
of  lands.  the  earls.  Doubtless  the  enemies  of  Henry's 
mother  would  bear  their  reverses  silently,  to  avoid  entire 
ruin ;  or  only  those  would  think  of  continuing  in  opposi- 
tion who  had  no  hope  but  in  terms  which  might  be 
granted  to  pertinacious  resistance  ;  but  Matilda's  sup- 
porters might  well  think  it  hard  that  they  should  be 
called  upon  to  resign  their  hardwon  gains.  Still,  Henry 
was  a  national  king ;  the  resumption  of  domain  was 
not  an  Angevin  conquest ;  it  was  a  national  restoration 
of  the  state  of  affairs  as  it  stood  before  the  beginning  of 
the  national  quarrel.  As  a  matter  of  fact  only  two  or 
Resistance  three  of  the  nobles  made  any  resistance.  Wil- 
of  William  Ham  of  Aumale,  the  Lord  of  Holderness,  who 
had  commanded  at  the  Battle  of  the  Standard, 
and  who  played  the  part  of  a  petty  king  in  Yorkshire, 
objected  to  surrender  his  great  castle  at  Scarborough. 
He,  of  course,  had  been  on  Stephen's  side,  and  was,  in- 
deed, a  member  of  the  House  of  Champagne — the  son 
of  that  Count  Stephen  who  had  been  brought  forward 
by  the  Norman  earls  as  competitor  with  William  Rufus. 
Of  Matilda's  old  friends,  Hugh  Mortimer,  the  lord  of 
Wigmore,  and  Roger  of  Hereford,  the  son  of  Miles  the 
Constable,  declined  to  submit.  The  King  of  Scots  too, 
Malcolm  IV.,  grandson  of  King  David  and  half-cousin 
of  Henry,  although  the  Northern  counties  had  been  held 


1' 


)• 


T 


•.  !■ 


A.D.  1 155.    Early  Years  of  Henry  II.  43 

in  trust  for  Henry,  wished  to  retain  them  for  himself.    In 
January  1155,  however,  Henry  marched  northwards  and 
brought  the  Count  of  Aumale  to  his  feet.     In  March  he 
was  at  London  holding  council  for  the  resto- 
ration of  peace  and  the  confirmation  of  the     tli^'maW^ 
ancient    laws.       He    declared    that    neither    ^^"^'• 
friend  nor   foe  should   be  spared.      Roger  of  Hereford 
immediately  surrendered.     Hugh  of  Mortimer  still  held 
out,  and  did    not    submit    until    Henry  had    called   out 
the  national  force  for  the  capture  of  Rridgenorth.     On 
exactly  the  same  ground  it  was  that  Henry  I.  had  won 
his   victory  over  Robert  of  Belesme,  when  in  1102   he 
laid  the  axe  to  the  tree  of  feudal  misrule,  and  his  sub- 
jects, rejoicing  at  the  overthrow  of  the  oppressor,  hailed 
him  as  now  for  the  first  time  a  king.     This  was  accom- 
plished in  July.     And  this  was  a  permanent  pacification  ; 
it  was  nearly  twenty  years  before  anything  like  rebellion 
reared  its  head. 

The  history  of  the  first  year  of  Henry's  reign  is  not, 
however,  filled  up  thus.  He  restored  the  administration 
of  justice,  and  sent  itinerant  members  of  his     t, 

.     J .    .    ,  .  Restoration 

judicial  court  to  enforce  the  law  which  had  of  judica- 
been  so  long  in  abeyance.  He  himself  learned  ^"''^" 
the  law  as  an  apt  scholar.  Even  at  Bridgenorth  he  found 
time  to  hear  suits  brought  before  him  as  supreme  judge ; 
at  Nottingham,  whilst  he  was  on  his  way  from  Scar- 
borough, he  threatened  William  Peverell  with  a  charge 
of  having  poisoned  the  Earl  of  Chester.  The  very  threat 
caused  Peverell  to  take  refuge  in  a  monastery,     r 

TJ      1     u  -1       /-  rrequent 

iie  held  council  after  council,  taking  advice  councils. 
from  his  elders,  and  making  friends  everywhere.  In  one 
assembly  held  at  Walhngford  after  Easter  he  obtained 
the  recognition  of  his  little  son  William,  who  afterwards 
died,  as  his  successor.  In  another,  held  at  Winchester, 
at  Michaelmas,  he  proposed  that  the  conquest  of  Ireland 


44 


The  Early  Plantagenets. 


A.D.  1 157. 


should  be  attempted  and  a  kingdom  founded  there  for 
Proposal  to  ^^^  brothcr  William.  The  empress  objected 
conquer  to  this,  and  it  was  given  up,  at  least  during 

her  life,  although  the  English  Pope,  Adrian 
IV.,  by  his  famous  Bull  Laudabilitcr,  issued  about  this 
time,  was  already  anxious  to  give  the  papal  authorisation 
to  a  scheme  that  would  complete  the  symmetrical  confor- 
mation of  Western  Christendom.  A  national  expedition, 
Henry  may  have  thought,  would  do  more  than  anything 
else  to  consolidate  the  national  unity  which  was  growing 
rapidly  into  more  than  a  name.  But  clearly  the  time 
was  not  come  for  England,  shorn  of  her  Northern 
provinces,  and  with  the  Welsh  unsubdued,  to  attempt 
foreign  conquest;  and  Henry  had  other  states  besides 
England  to  take  thought  for. 

The  whole  of  the  next  year  he  had  to  spend  in 
Nomiandy  and  Anjou,  and,  when  he  returned  in  1157, 
he  found  abundant  work  ready  for  his  hands  in  his  still 
undetermined  relations  with  Wales  and  Scotland.  His 
first  visit  was  to  the  Eastern  counties,  and  there  he 
combined  business  with  pleasure.  William  of  War- 
enne,  Count  of  Boulogne  and  Earl  of  Surrey,  the 
son  of  Stephen,  had  received  a  considerable  estate  in 
Norfolk,  including  the  castle  of   Norwich;   and   Hugh 

Hugh  Bigot  ^^S^^j  ^^^  ^^''1  o^  ^^^  county  of  Norfolk,  the 
humbled,  same  Hugh  who  had  sworn  that  Henry  I. 
"^^'  disinherited  the  empress,  was  very  reluctant 

to  accept  the  strong  rule  of  the  new  king.  Whether 
Hugh  was  now  acting  on  behalf  of  Stephen's  family  or 
in  opposition  to  them  is  not  clear.  It  was  his  attitude 
that  drew  the  king  into  that  country.  He  was  made  to 
surrender  his  castles;  and  William  of  Warenne  likewise 
surrendered  his  special  provision,  on  the  understanding 
that  he  was  to  receive  his  hereditary  estates.  Henry 
added  solemnity  to  this  visit  by  holding  a  solemn  court 


* 

1 


A.D.  1 157.    Early  Years  of  Henry  IT, 


45 


wtftKr^'^ 


and  wearing  his  crown  in  state  on  Whit- Sunday,  at  St. 
Edmund's,  the  second  recorded  coronation-day  second 
of  the  reign.  This  ceremony  was  a  revival  of  coronation. 
the  great  courts  held  by  the  Conqueror  and  his  sons  on 
the  great  festivals,  Christmas,  Easter,  and  Whitsuntide, 
at  Gloucester,  Westminster,  and  Winchester,  the  three 
chief  cities  of  the  South.  At  such  gatherings  all  the  great 
men  attended,  both  witan  and  warriors,  clerk  and  lay. 
The  king  heard  the  complaints  of  his  subjects,  and  de- 
cided their  suits  with  the  advice  of  his  wise  men  ;  the 
feudal  services,  by  which  the  great  estates  were  held,  were 
solemnly  rendered  ;  a  special  peace  was  set,  the  breakers 
of  which  within  the  purlieus  of  the  court  were  liable  to 
special  penalties ;  and  during  the  gathering,  whilst  the 
people  were  amused  and  humoured  by  the  show,  the 
king  and  his  really  trusted  advisers  contrived  the  de- 
spatch of  business.  The  ceremony  of  coronation,  which 
gave  the  name  to  these  courts,  was  not,  as  is  sometimes 
supposed,  a  repetition  of  the  formal  rite  of  initiation  by 
which  the  king  at  his  accession  received  the  authorisa- 
tion of  God  through  the  hands  of  the  bishops ;  the  cha- 
racter so  impressed  was  regarded  as  indelible,  and  hence 
the  only  way  of  disposing  of  a  bad  king  was  to  kill  him. 
That  rite,  the  solemn  consecration  and  unction,  was  in- 
capable of  being  repeated.  The  crown  was,  however,  on 
these  occasions  placed  on  the  king's  head  in  his  chamber 
by  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  with  special  prayers, 
and  the  court  went  in  procession  to  mass,  where  the  king 
made  his  offering,  and  afterwards  the  barons  diU  their 
services,  as  at  the  real  coronation.  These  courts  had 
been  given  up  by  Stephen,  as  the  historian  Henry  of 
Huntingdon  notes  with  an  expressive  lamentation,  in 
the  year  1 140,  when  the  clergy  ceased  to  attend  them; 
and  he  had  made  only  one  unlucky  attempt,  the  Lin- 
coln coronation,  in  1 147,  to  revive  them.     Henry,  however, 


46 


The  Early  Plantagcncts.       a.d.  1158. 


renewed  the  custom  on  this  occasion,  and  twice  after 
this  we  find  it  observed.  At  the  Christmas  of  this 
year  he  was  crowned  at  Lincohi,  but  not,  Hke  Stephen, 
in  the  cathedral,  for  he  feared  the  omen ;  and  at  Easter 
1 158  he  was  crowned  at  Worcester.  After  that  he  never 
actually  wore  the  crown  again,  although  he  did  occa- 
sionally hold  these  formal  courts,  in  order  to  receive 
the  honorary  services  by  which  his  courtiers  held  their 
estates.  This  coronation,  then,  at  St.  Edmund's  was,  as 
usual,  turned  to  purposes  of  business.  The  king  was 
ready  for  a  Welsh  war;  measures  were  taken  for  pro- 
viding men  and  money. 

At  another  council,  held  in  July,  at  Northampton,  the 
expedition  started.  This  was  Henry's  first  Welsh  war, 
First  Welsh  ^nd  it  was  no  great  success.  Thd  army  ad- 
^^'•-  vanced  into   North  Wales;    at  Consilt,  near 

Flint,  an  awkward  pass,  they  were  resisted  by  the  Welsh. 
There  Henry  of  Essex,  the  Constable,  let  fall  the  royal 
standard,  as  he  declared,  by  accident.     The  army,  think- 
ing that   the  king  was  killed  or  the  battle  lost,  fell  into 
confusion,  and  the  day  was  claimed  by  the  Welsh  as  a 
victory.     That  it  was  merely  a  misfortune  of  little  im- 
portance is  proved  by  the  fact  that  Henry  continued  his 
march  to  Rhuddlan.     The  ostensible  pretext  of  the  expe- 
pedition  being  to  arrange  a  quarrel  between  Owen  Gwyn- 
neth   and   his   brother   Cadwalader,  there  was  no  overt 
attempt  at  conquest.     The  king  returned  from  Wales 
into  Nottinghamshire  to  meet  the  young  Malcolm  IV., 
who  seems  at  this  time  to  have  finally  surrendered  his 
hold  on  the   Northern   counties.     At    Christmas    Henry 
was  at  Lincoln. 

In  1 158  he  wore  his  crown,  as  we  have  seen,  at  Easter, 
at  Worcester ;  in  the  summer  he  went  into  Cumberland, 
no  doubt  to  set  the  machinery  of  government  at  work 
there  in  due  order  after  the  change  of  rulers  ;  and  at 


I 


«^ 


A.D.  1 158.    Early  Years  of  Henry  II.  ^y 

Carlisle  on  Midsummer-day  he  conferred  knighthood  on 
William  of  Warenne.     In  August  he  went  to     j^^^    ... 
France,  whence  he  did  not  return  until  January     toTfance! 
1 163.     This  brings  us  to  the  point  of  time  at     "58-1163. 
which  the  struggle  with  Eecket  begins,  to  which,  with  its 
attendant  circumstances,  we  may  devote  another  chapter. 
^  We  may,  therefore,  now   take  up  the  thread  of  the 
foreign   transactions  at  the  beginning  of  the  reign  and 
bring  it  down  to  the  same  point.     The  geo- 
graphical extent    of   Henry's  dominions   fur-     po'l^eSons 
nishes   the   leading   clue   to  this  part  of  his     ""^  "'^"'^• 
history.     They  embraced,  speaking  roughly  and  roundly, 
Normandy,  Maine,  Touraine,  Anjou,  Guienne,  Poictou, 
and  Gascony.       But  this  statement  has   to  be  accepted 
with  some  very  important  limitations.     In  the  first  place, 
each  of  these  states,  and  each  bundle  of  them,  had  come 
to  him  in  a  different  way— some  from  his  father,  some 
from  his  mother,  some  by  his  wife— and  each  bundle  had 
been  got  together  by  those  from  whom  he  received  it  in 
similar  ways.    The  result  of  that  was  that  in  each  state  or 
bundle   of  states   there  was  a  distinct  relation  between 
the  lord  and  his  vassals— a  constitution,  we  might  call  it, 
by  which  various  rights  and  privileges   and    a  varying 
legal  system  or  customs  subsisted.    What  was    His 
law    in    Normandy    was    not    customary    in     '"'^.'aj'ops 
Anjou;    and  the   barons  of    Poictou  had,  or     vassals'.^ 
claimed,  customs  which  must,  if  they  could   have  en- 
forced them,  have  produced  utter  anarchy.     Here  was 
a  constant  and  abundant  source  of  administrative  diffi- 
culties, the  adjustment  of  which  was  one  of  the  causes 
of  Henry's  long  absence  from  England.     But  a  second 
incidental  result   was,   that,  as  many   of   these   estates 
came   into   the  common   inheritance   on   very   deficient 
title,  conquest  in  one  case,  chicanery  in  another,  there 
were  a  number  of  claimants  in  each,  claimants  who  by 


48 


The  Early  Plantagcncts,        a.d.  1158. 


prescriptive  right  might  have  lost  all  chance  of  recover- 
ing their  lands,  but  whose  very  existence  gave  trouble. 
In  Anjou,  for  instance,  Henry  had  to  contend  against 
his  own  brother  Geoffrey,  to  whom  their  father  had 
left  certain  cities,  and  who  might  have  a  claim  to  the 
whole  county.  In  Normandy  the  heirs  of  Stephen 
claimed  the  county  of  Mortain ;  in  Maine,  Saintonge, 
and  other  Southern  provinces,  there  were  the  remnants 
of  older  dynasties,  always  ready  to  give  trouble. 

But  further  than  this,  the  feudal  law,  as  it  was  then 
recognised  in  France,  gave  the  king,  in  his  manifold 
His  relation  Capacities  as  king,  duke,  and  count,  certain 
to  the  King     rights  and  certain  obligations  that  are  puzzling: 

of  France.  ,  ,  f  ,,      , 

now,  and  must  have  been  actually  bewilder- 
ing then.     Henry  as   Duke  of  Normandy  inherited  the 
relation,   entered   into   by   his   ancestor   Duke    Richard 
the    Fearless,   of  vassal   to   the    Duke    of  the    Franks; 
but  the  Duke  of  the  Franks  had  now  become  King  of 
France.      It  was  a   serious  question  how  the  duties  of 
vassalage  were  to  be  defmed.     As   Duke  of  Normandy 
also  he  had  a  right   to    the   feudal  superiority  of  Brit- 
tany.   Yet  it  was  no  easy  thing  to  say  how  Brittany  could 
be  made  to  act   in  case  of  a  quarrel  between  king  and 
duke.      The   tie   which  bound  him  as  Count    of  Anjou 
was  different  from  that  which  bound  him  as   Duke  of 
Normandy  to  the  same  King  of  France.     As  Count  of 
Poictiers  he  was  feudally  bound  to  the  Duke  of  Aqui- 
taine,  but  he  was  himself  duke  of  Aquitaine,  unless  he 
chose   to   regard   his   wife   as   duchess   and   himself  as 
count,   in  which  case  he  would  be  liable  to  do  feudal 
service  to  his  wife  only,  and  she  would  be  responsible 
for  the  service  to  the  King  of  France ;  a  very  curious 
relation  for  a  lady  who  had  been  married  to  both.     We 
do  not,  however,  find  that  this  contrivance  was  employed 
by  Henry  himself,  although  it  was  used  by  John.     And 


T 


A.D.  1 1 58.     Early   Years  of  Henry  11.  49 

this  same  point  of  difficulty  arose  everywhere.  The 
feudal  rights  of  Aquitaine— the  right,  that  is,  to  demand 
homage  and  service— extended  far  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  sovereign  authority  of  the  dukes,  and  it  was  always 
an  object  to  turn  a  claim  of  overlordship  into  an  actual 
exercise  of  sovereign  authority.  The  tie  between  the 
great  county  of  Toulouse  and  ihe  duchy  of  Aquitaine 
was  complicated  both  by  legal  difficulty  and  by  ques- 
tions of  descent.  The  rights  over  Auvergne,  claimed 
by  both  the  king  and  the  duke,  were  so  complex  as  to 
be  the  matter  of  continual  arbitration,  and  at  last  were 
left  to  settle  themselves. 

And  to  these  must  be  added,  in  the  third  place,  local 
and  personal  questions;  local,  such  as  arose     Questions  of 
from  uncertain  boundaries,  the  line  which  se-     boundary. 
parated  Normandy  from  France,  the  Norman  from  the 
French  Vexin,  being  perhaps  the  chief ;  personal,  arising 
from  the  enmity  between  Eleanor  and  her  first     Personal 
husband,  from   the   attitude  of  the  house  of    questions. 
Champagne,  from   which   Lewis  VII.  had  selected   his 
third   wife,  and  which   had  the  wrongs   of   Stephen   to 
avenge.     The  Count  of  Flanders  also  was  a  pertinacious 
enemy  of  Henry. 

Under  these  circumstances  it  is  not  difficult  to  see 
that  Henry's  policy,  however  ambitious  he  might  be,  was 
peace ;  at  all  events,  peace  long  enough  to  ^i&^r  -'s 
consolidate  his  dominions  and  crush  antago-  true  policy, 
nism  in  detail.  And  this  must  account  for  the  fact  that, 
with  the  exception  of  the  war  of  Toulouse,  in  which 
Lewis  VII.  took  part,  not  as  a  principal  but  as  an  ally  of 
the  count,  there  was  no  overt  wai-  between  Eleanor's  two 
husbands  until  it  was  produced  by  an  entirely  new 
quarrel.  It  could  not  be  expected  that  there  should  be 
any  love  or  friendship,  but  there  was  peace.  Henry's 
policy  w^is  peace;  Lewis  was  averse  to  war,  having 
M.  II.  E 


50 


The  Early  Plantagnicts.        p^,Yi.  1159. 


neither  skill  nor  resources.  All  Henry's  French  cam- 
paigns,  then,  during  this  period  were  occasioned  by  the 
His  French  circumstances  which  have  been  thus  stated, 
wars.  The  object  of  the  war  of  1 1 56  was,  sad  to  say, 

the  subjugation  of  Geoffrey  of  Nantes,  the  king's  own 
brother,  who  submitted  to  him,  after  he  had  taken  his 
castles  one  by  one,  in  the  July  of  that  year,  and  who 
died  two  years  after.  The  business  of  1 158  was  to  secure 
the  territories  that  Geoffrey  had  left  without  heirs,  and, 
that  done,  to  prepare  for  the  enforcement  of  Eleanors 
claims  on  Toulouse. 

The  war  of  Toulouse,  with  its  preparations  and  re- 
sults, occupied  the  greater  part  of  1 1 59,  although  the 
Wirof  campaign  itself  was  short.    Henry  had  assem- 

Toulouse,  bled  his  full  court  of  vassals.  William  of 
"59-  Warenne,  the   son  of  Stephen,  and  Malcolm, 

King  of  Scots,  followed  him  as  his  liegemen  rather  than 
as  allies.  Becket,  as  his  Chancellor,  came  with  an  equip- 
ment not  inferior  to  that  of  any  of  his  earls  and  counts. 
Altogether  it  was  a  very  splendid  and  expensive  affair. 
The  king  marched  to  Toulouse;  but  at  Toulouse  was 
his  enemy,  his  friend,  his  lord,  his  wife's  first  husband. 
Henry  could  not  proceed  to  extremes  against  the  man 
whom  in  his  youthful  sincerity  he  still  recognised  as 
his  feudal  lord,  and  whose  personal  humiliation  would 
have  degraded  the  idea  of  royalty,  of  which  he  was 
himself  so  proud.  So  he  left  Becket  to  continue  the 
siege  and  returned  westward.  The  French  were  at- 
tempting a  diversion  on  the  Norman  frontier.  Tou- 
louse, therefore,  was  not  taken.  Towards  the  end  of 
the  year  a  truce  was  made  with  Lev.is,  and  early  in 
1 160  the  truce  was  turned  into  an  alliance.  But  the 
alliance  brought  with  it  the  seeds  of  new  and  more  fatal 
divisions. 

We  have  noted  the   way   in  which  Henry  used  his 


A.D.  1 160.    Early    Years  of  Henry  II.  51 

children  as  his  tools  or  as  the  counters  of  his  game.    He 
began   with   them   very   young.      His   eldest     u 

Herir^'  s 

child,  William,  to  whom  we  have  seen  homage  sons  and 
done  immediately  after  the  coronation,  died  "^"^"^hters. 
very  soon  after,  and  Henry,  who  was  born  in  February 
1 1 55,  and  had  received  conditional  homage  when  he  was 
two  months  old,  now  became  the  heir-apparent.  The 
next  child  was  a  daughter,  Matilda,  born  in  1156;  in 
1 157  Richard  was  born,  at  either  Oxford  or  Woodstock; 
Geoffrey,  the  next  brother,  came  in  1158;  then  Eleanor, 
in  1 162 ;  Johanna,  in  1 165  ;  and  last  of  all  John,  in  1 167. 
On  Henry's  attempts  to  provide  for  these  children  hangs 
nearly  all  the  interest  of  his  foreign  wars ;  and  the  mar- 
riages of  the  daughters  form  a  key  to  the  history  of  the 
foreign  policy  of  England  and  her  alliances  for  many  ages. 
The  game  may  be  considered  to  begin  with  Richard, 
who  at  the  age  of  a  year  was  betrothed  to  the  daughter 
of  Raymond  of  Barcelona  and  Queen  Pctro-    u- 

.,,  -     .  ^  His  projects 

nilla  of  Aragon.     This  was  done,  it  appears,     of  marriage 
to  bind  the  count  and  queen  either  to  help  or      ^"^   ^^'"' 
to  stand  neutral  in  the  war  of  Toulouse.     The  betrothal 
came   to   nothing.       Henry,  the  elder  brother,   was  the 
next   victim.      The  peace  of  1160  assigned  him,  at  the 
age  of  five,  as  husband  to  the  little  lady   Margaret   of 
France,  Lewis's  daughter  by  his  second  wife,  Constance 
of  Castille.       This  marriage  was    not    only   to    seal  the 
peace  but  to  secure  to  Henry  a  good  frontier  between 
Normandy   and    France.      The    castles    of    Gisors   and 
Neafle,  and  the  county  of  the  \^exin,  which  lay  between 
Normandy  and    Paris,  were  to    be    Margaret's   portion, 
not  to  be  surrendered  until  the  marriage  could  be  for- 
mally celebrated,  and  until  then  to  remain  in  the  custody 
of   the   Templars.      Henry,    however,    did    not    stick    at 
trifles.     The  little  Margaret  had  been  put  into  his  hands 
to  learn  English  or  Norman  ways.     He  had  the  marriage 


E  2 


52 


The  Early  Plaiitagcjicts.        a.d.  ii6i. 


celebrated  between  the  two  children,  and  then  prevailed 
Marriage  of  ^"  ^^^  Templars  to  surrender  the  castles. 
Henry  and  Lewls  never  for!]^ave  that,  and  the  Vexin  quar- 
rel  remained  an  open  sore  dunng  the  rest  of 
the  reign  ;  for  after  the  death  of  the  younger  Hen'-y  his 
rights  were  transferred  to  Richard  by  another  unhappy 
marriage  contract  with  another  of  Lewis's  daughters. 
Practically  the  question  was  settled  by  the  betrayal  of 
Gisors  to  Philip,  by  Gilbert  of  Vacoeuil,  whilst  Richard 
was  in  Palestine;  but  the  struggle  continued  until  John 
finally  lost  not  only  the  Vexin  but  Normandy  itself  and 
all  else  that  he  had  to  lose.  For  the  present,  however, 
the  outbreak  of  war,  to  which  Henry's  sharp  practice  led. 
was  only  a  brief  one.  Henry  was  successful,  and  peace 
was  concluded  in  August  1161.  The  year  1162  he  spent 
in  Normandy,  holding  councils  and  organising  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  duchy,  as  he  had  done  that  of  the 
kingdom  in  his  first  year. 

During  the  whole  of  this  long  absence  from  England 
the  country  was  governed  by  Richard  de  Lucy  and  Earl 
Encland  Robert  of  Leicester,  as  the  king's  chief  jus- 

Sig"^  '^^^  tices  or  justiciars  ;  the  little  Henr>'  taking  his 
absence.  father's  placc  on  occasions  of  ceremony,  when 
he  happened  to  be  in  England.  The  historians  of  these 
years  tell  us  little  or  nothing  of  what  was  going  on. 
There  were  no  wars  or  revolts  ;  abbots  and  bishops  died 
and  their  successors  were  appointed ;  notably  the  good 
Archbishop  Theobald,  to  whom  Henry  owed  so  much, 
died  in  1161,  and  Becket  succeeded  him. 

From  other  sources  we  learn  that  Henrv's  legal  re- 
forms  were  in  full  operation.  He  had  restored  the  ma- 
Procjressof  chincry  of  the  FLxchequer,  and  with  it  the 
reforms.  method  of  raising  revenue   which  had   been 

arranged  in  his  grandfathers  time.  That  revenue  arose, 
firstly,  from  the  ferm  or  rent  of  the  counties  ;  that  is, 


A.D. 


1 162.      Early  Years  of  Henry  II. 


53 


the  sum  paid  by  the  sheriffs  as  royal  stewards,  by  way  of 
composition  for  the  rents  of  royal  lands  in  N^jjureof 
the  shire,  and  the  ordinary  proceeds  of  the  the  revenue, 
tines  and  other  payments  made  in  the  ancient  shire- 
moot  or  county  court ;  secondly,  from  the  Danegeld,  a 
tax  of  two  shillings  on  the  hide  of  land,  originally 
levied  as  tribute  to  the  Danes  under  Ethelred,  but 
continued,  like  the  Income  Tax,  as  a  convenient  or- 
dinary resource;  thirdly,  from  the  feudal  revenue,  arising 
from  the  profits  of  marriages,  wardships,  transfers  of 
land,  successions,  and  the  like,  and  from  the  aids  de- 
manded by  the  king  from  the  several  barons  or  com- 
munities that  owed  him  feudal  support.  To  these  we 
may  add  a  fourth  source,  the  proceeds  of  courts  of  jus- 
tice, held  by  the  king's  officers  to  determine  causes  for 
which  the  ancient  popular  courts  were  not  thought  com- 
petent;  such  as  began  with  suits  between  the  king's 
immediate  dependents,  and  by  degrees  extended  to  all 
the  civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction  of  the  country.  Judi- 
cature and  finance  were  thus  bound  very  closely  to- 
gether ;  the  sheriffs  were  not  only  tax-gatherers  but 
executors  of  the  law,  and  every  improvement  in  the  law 
was  made  to  increase  the  income  of  the  Ex-  Administra- 
chequer.  To  this  we  must  attribute  the  means  tion  of 
taken  by  Henry  to  administer  justice  in  the 
counties,  sending  some  of  the  chief  members  of  his  judi- 
cial staff,  year  after  year,  through  the  country,  forcing 
their  way  into  the  estates  and  castles  of  the  most  despotic 
nobles,  and  spreading  the  feeling  of  security  together 
with  the  sense  of  loyalty,  and  the  conviction  that  ready 
justice  was  well  worth  the  money  that  it  seemed  to  cost. 
Besides  the  revival  of  the  provincial  judicature  in  this 
shape  Henry,  from  the  beginning  of  the  reign,  added  form 
and  organisation  to  the  proceedings  of  his  supreme  court 
of  justice,  which  comes  into  prominence  later  on. 


54 


The  Early  Plantagcncts. 


CH.    III. 


CII.   III. 


Early    Years  of  Henry  II. 


55 


Next  to  these  his  most  important  measure  was  the 
institution  or  expansion  of  what  is  called  Scutage.  Ac- 
Scutage  cording   to   the   ancient    English    law    every 

freeman  was  bound  to  serve  in  arms  for  the 
defence   of    his   country.     That    principle    Henry    only 
meddled  with  so  far  as  to  direct  and  improve  it.      But, 
according  to  the  feudal  custom,  quite  irrespective  of  this, 
every  man  who  held  land  to  the  amount  of  twenty  pounds' 
worth  of  annual  value  was  obliged  to  perform  or  furnish 
the  military  service  of  a   knight  to  his  immediate  lord. 
This  kept  the  barons  always  at  the  head  of  bodies  of 
trained  knights,  who  might  be  regarded  as  ultimately  a 
part  of  the  king's  army,  but  in  case  of  a  rebellion  would 
probably  fight  for  their  immediate  lord.     Henry,  by  al- 
lowing his  vassals  to  commute  their  military  service  for 
a  money  payment,  w^ent  a  long  way  to  disarm  this  very 
untrustworthy  body;  and  with  the  money  so  raised  he 
hired  stipendiaries,  with  whom  he  fought  his  Continental 
wars.     He  began  to  act  on  this  principle  in  the  first  year 
of  his  reign,  when  he  made  the  bishops,  notwithstanding 
strong  objections  from  Archbishop  Theobald,  pay  scu- 
tage for  their  lands  held  by  knight-service.     But  in  ii 59 
he  extended  the  plan  very  widely,  and  took  money  in- 
stead of  service  from  the  whole  of  his  dominions,  com- 
pelling his  chief  lords  to  serve  in  person,  but  hiring,  with 
the  scutages  of  the  inferior  tenants,  a  splendid  army  of 
mercenaries,  with  which  he  fought  the  war  of  Toulouse. 

By  thus  disarming  the  feudal  potentates,  and  forcing 
his  judges  into  their  courts,  he  completed  the  process  by 
which  he  intended  to  humiliate  them.  Feudalism  in  Eng- 
land, after  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  never  reared  its  head 
so  high  as  to  be  again  formidable. 

Other  results  incidentally  followed  from  the  special 
measures  by  which  this  great  end  was  secured ;  the  more 
thorough  amalgamation  of  the  still  unfused  nationalities 


S. 


i 


of  Norman   and  Englishman   followed  from  a   state  of 
things  in  which  both  were  equal  before  the     increase  of 
law,    and    the    distinctions    or    privileges    of    national 

'  .        1  r  unity. 

blood  were  no  longer  recognised  among  tree 
men.     The  diminution  of  military  power    in  the  hands 
of  the   territorial   lords    left   the   maintenance  of  peace 
and  the  defence  of  the  country  to  be  undertaken,  as  it 
had  been   of   old,  by  the  community   of  free   English- 
men, locally  trained,  and  armed  according  to  their  sub- 
stance.    This  created  or  revived  a  strong  warlike  spirit 
for  all  national  objects,  without  inspiring  the  passion  for 
military  exploit   or  glory,  which  is   the  bane  of  what  is 
called  a  military  nation.     On   the  national  character, 
thus   in  a  state  of  formation,  the  idea  that  law  is  and 
ought  to  be  supreme   was   now  firmly  impressed;  and 
although  the  further  development  of  the  governmental 
system  furnished    employment   for   Henry's    later   years, 
and  was  never  neglected,  even  in  the  busiest   and  un- 
happiest  period  of  his  reign,  it  may  be  fairly  snid  that 
the  foundation  was  laid  in   the  comparative  peace   and 
industry   of   these  early    years.      At    the    age   of  thirty 
Henry   had   been   nearly   nine    years    a   king,   and  had 
already  done  a  work  for  which  England  can  never  cease 
to  be  grateful. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

HENRY    II.    AND    THOMAS    BECKET. 

The  English  C:hurch— Schools  of  Clergy— Rise  of  Becket— Quarrel 
with  the  King — Exile — Death. 

The  history  of  the  Church  of  England  is  during  many 
ages  the  chief  part  of  the  history  of  the  nation  ;  through- 
out it  is  a  very   large  part  of  the  history  of    The  English 
the   people.      Their   ways   of  thinking,  their     Church, 
system  of  morals,  their  intellectual  growth,  their  inter- 


56 


The  Early  Plajitagmcts. 


CH.   IV. 


CH.  i\-.      Hairy  IL  and  Tho7nas  Bccket. 


57 


course  with  the  world  outside,  cannot  be  understood  but 
by  an  examination  of  the  vicissitudes  of  their  rehgious 
history;  and  it  plays  a  scarcely  less  important  part  in  the 
development  of  their  political  institutions.  Christianity 
in  England,  looked  at  by  the  eye  of  history,  means  not 
only  the  knowledge  of  God  and  His  salvation  by  Christ 
Jesus ;  it  carries  with  it,  besides,  all  that  is  implied  in 
civilisation,  national  growth  and  national  unity. 

When  the  English,  under  the  seven  or  eight  strug- 
ghng  and   quarrelling  dynasties   whose  battles  form  for 
Under  the       ccuturics  all  the  recorded  life  of  the  island, 
Heptarchy.      ^verc  scven   or   eight   distinct  nationalities,— 
some  of  them  tribally  connected,  some  of  them  using  allied 
systems  of  law,  but  otherwise  having  scarcely  anything  in 
common  beyond  dialects    of    a    common    growing  fan- 
guage,— altogether  without  any  common  organisation  or 
the  desire  of  forming  one,— the  conversion  in  the  seventh 
century  taught  them  to  regard  themselves  as  one  people. 
They  were  formed  by  St.  Gregory  and  Archbishop  Theo- 
dore into   an   organised    Christian  Church,  the   several 
dioceses  of  which  represented  the  several  kingdoms  or 
provinces  of  their  divided  state. 

Thus  arranged  in  one  or,  later  on,  in  two  ecclesias- 
tical   provinces,  the   wise   men   of   the   several   tribes 
learned  to  act  in  concert;   the  tribes  them- 
selves, casting  aside  their  tribal  superstitions 
for  a  common  worship,  found   how  few  real 
obstacles  there  were  to  prevent  them  from  acting  as  one 
people;  and  from   the  date  of  the  conversion  the  ten- 
dency of  the  kingdoms  was  to  unite  rather  than  to  break 
up.     Although  this  process  was  slow— for  it  went  on  for 
four  centuries,  and   was    scarcely  completed   when  the 
Norman  Conquest   forced   the  mass  of  varied  national 
elements  into  cohesion— it  was  a  unifonn  tendency,  con- 
trasted with  and  counteracting  numerous  and  varying 


National 
iKiity  first 
realised. 


T 


1 


1 


tendencies  towards  separation.  The  Church  built  up  the 
unity  of  the  State,  and  in  so  doing  it  built  up  the  unity 
of  the  nation. 

And  one  result  of  this  was  to  make  the  Church  ex- 
tremely powerful  in  the  state.  There  was  but  one  arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  when  there  were  seven     ^ 

,  .  y  Great  power 

kmgs ;  that  archbishop's  word  was  listened  of  the 
to  with  respect  and  obeyed  in  all  the  seven  "^""'^'-^■■ 
kingdoms,  in  any  one  of  which  the  command  of  a 
strange  king  would  have  been  received  with  contempt. 
The  archbishop  was  exceedingly  powerful,  both  in  Kent, 
his  peculiar  diocese,  and  by  his  alliances  with  the  states 
and  churches  of  the  Continent ;  and  the  diocesan  bishops 
were  each,  in  his  own  district,  a  match  for  their  kings, 
because  they  knew  that  in  any  struggle  they  could  de- 
pend on  the  friendship  of  all  their  fellows  outside  their 
special  kingdom,  much  more  than  the  peccant  king  could 
depend  on  the  assistance  of  his  fellow-kings.  They  could 
meet  in  one  council,  whilst  the  several  kings  could  only 
collect  their  own  Witenagemots ;  they  were,  in  fact,  the 
rulers  of  the  Church  of  England,  whilst  the  kings  were 
only  kings  of  Kent,  Mcrcia,  and  Wessex.  And  when  the 
kingdoms  became  one  under  the  descendants  of  Egbert 
the  prelates  retained  the  same  power. 

Never,  perhaps,  in  any  country  were  Church  and  State 
more  closely  united  than  they  were  in  Anglo-Saxon  times 
in  England;  for  they  were  united,  with  careful     ,„• 

......  ^        '  Alliance  of 

recognition  of  their  distinct  functions,  not,  as  church  and 
in  Spain  and  some  other  lands,  confounding  '^^'^^'^' 
what  should  have  been  kept  distinct,  or  making  the  pre- 
lates great  temporal  lords,  or  the  national  deliberations 
mere  ecclesiastical  councils.  The  prelates,  the  bishops 
and  abbots,  formed,  as  wise  men,  qualified  by  their 
spiritual  office  to  be  counsellors,  a  very  large  proportion  of 
the  Witenagemot,  the  ruling  council  of  the  kingdom;  in 


53 


The  Early  Plantagencts. 


CH.   IV. 


en.  IV.      Henry  II.  and  Thomas  Becket. 


59 


every  county  the  bishop  sat  in  the  courts  with  the  sheriflf, 
to  declare  the  Divine  law,  as  the  sheriff  did  the  secular 
law.     The  clergy  were,  for  all  moral  offences,  under  the 
same  rules  as  the  laity,  save  that  it  was  the  bishop  who 
in  the  common   court   attended  to  their  case   and  saw- 
substantial  justice  enforced.      So  matters  went  on  until 
the  Conquest,  the  changes  which  took  place  in  the  mean- 
time affecting  the  spiritual  discipline  and  character  rather 
than  the  constitutional  position  of  the  clergy;  making 
them,  that  is,  more  or  less   secular  in  their  views  and 
aims,  but  not  lessening  their  power.     Nay,  evcf^-  change 
strengthened  rather  than  weakened  their  position.     Dun- 
stan  was  the  prime  minister  of  the  last  mighty  king ;   but 
under  Canute  the  prelates  were  even  more  powerful  than 
under   Edgar;  and  we  can  understand  from  the  history 
of  the  Conquest  that  it  was  not  the  fault  of  the  English- 
born  bishops  that  William  the  Norman  obtained  the  vic- 
tory in  the  council  as  well  as  in  the  held. 

The  Conquest  had  some  very  marked  effects  in  this 
region  of  life.  In  the  first  place,  it  was  absolutely  neces- 
Effects  of  sary  for  William  to  have  the  clergy  on  his 
theConquest      gj^^ .     -f  j^^    j^^^    ^^^   j^^    ^^.^^^j^  ^^^^^  nothing 

Church.  to  form  a  counterpoise  for  the  power  of  the 

barons,  which  was  already  threatening,  nor  would  he 
have  been  able  to  get  hold  of  the  people.  He  wanted 
to  be  a  national  king— the  protector  of  the  national 
Church,  the  king  of  the  English  people.  In  the  hope 
of  securing  the  support  of  the  bishops  he  waited  for  three 
years  before  he  took  summary  measures  against  those 
who  were  still  secretly  or  overtly  hostile.  When  patience 
was  seen  to  be  unavailing  he  deposed  Archbishop  Sti- 
gand,  no  doubt  at  the  instigation  of  the  Pope,  but  in  his 
place  he  set,  not  a  Norman,  who  would  have  alienated 
the  people,  but  a  wise  Italian,  under  whose  counsels  the 
Norman  king  and  the  English  people  were  drawn  together 


1 


almost  as  closely  as  the  king  and  people  had  been  before 
the  Normans  came.  Two  eflfects  resulted  directly  from 
this.  The  Conquest  of  England  coincides  in  point  of 
time  with  the  great  period  of  the  Hildebran-     ^>,    „-, , 

,.         .-  ,  *^  ihe  Hilde- 

dme  ideas  ; — the  reign  of  Gregory  VII.  and  of  brandine 
the  popes  appointed  by  his  influence,  in  which  '"^"^■'''• 
a  new  interpretation  was  put  on  the  relations  of  Church 
and  State,  and  a  jealous  equilibrium  established  or  at- 
tempted, the  result  of  which  in  France  and  Germany 
seemed  to  be  the  tying  of  the  State  to  the  chariot-wheels 
of  the  Church.  Of  such  a  consummation  there  was  in 
England  no  chance  under  William  and  Lanfranc,  but 
nevertheless  the  coincidence  in  time  was  not  without 
its  consequences.  England  and  her  Church  were  drawn 
into  the  vortex  of  the  Church  politics  of  Europe,  and  the 
relations  between  Church  and  State  in  England  were  re- 
modelled upon  the  new  type.  The  courts  of  the  bishops 
for  the  trial  of  clerks  were  separated  from  the  courts  of 
the  sheriffs ;  the  election  of  prelates  was  arranged  by  a 
sort  of  compromise  between  royal  pov.er  and  canonical 
form;  the  bishops  became  barons  and  held  their  lands, 
or  a  portion  of  them,  by  the  new  baronial  tenure;  and 
their  councils  were  marked  off  by  a  much  broader  line 
than  they  had  been  from  the  councils  of  the  Witan,  or 
the  courts  of  the  king.  Then,  too,  a  new  concordat  was 
arranged  to  regulate  the  exercise  of  the  papal  power, 
for  which,  before  the  Conquest,  the  English  had  had  a 
respectful  but  ver)-  distant  regard.  The  king  insisted 
that  when  there  were  rival  popes  he  should     ,.,      , 

,  .  r    X-  Church 

be  the  judge  to  determine  which  should  be  ac-  policy  o*^  the 
cepted  in  England ;  no  suit  or  appeal  should  ^^"^"'^'■'^'■• 
be  carried  to  Rome  without  his  leave  ;  none  of  his  servarts 
should  be  excommunicated  against  his  sovereign  will ;  no 
legate  should  land  without  his  permission ;  no  ecclesias- 
tical legislation  should  be  enforced  without  his  approval. 


6o 


TJic  Early  Plantagcncts. 


CH.   IV. 


Norman 
bi.>hups. 


Within  these  limits  the  bishops  had  a  great  deal  of 
new  power;  and,  as  they  succeeded  in  a  great  measure 
.|.j^g  to   the    implicit   faith   and   obedience    which 

the  nation  had  given  to  their  own  English 
bishops,  they  were  able  to  exert  a  very  strong 
influence  towards  keeping  the  nation  together.  They 
were  kept  by  the  king  upon  his  side,  as  opposed  to  the 
barons,  and  securmg  them  he  secured  the  nation.  This 
is  clear  even  in  the  history  of  Anselm,  who,  although 
opposed  to  and  persecuted  by  the  king,  never  forgot  his 
duty  to  the  people  so  far  as  to  take  part  with  the  barons 
against  him.  Besides  the  bishops,  however,  there  was  in 
the  monasteries  a  great  reserve  fund  of  national  feeling; 
and,  up  to  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  what  little  we  can 
trace  of  English  feeling  is  to  be  traced  in  the  writings  of 
the  monks;  they  kept  alive  an  English  sentiment  as 
distinct  from  the  new  national  idea  that  was  to  blend 
English  and  Norman,  the  king  and  the  bishops  more 
distinctly  representing  the  latter. 

These  things  being  so,  we  are  able  to  understand 
what  it  was  that  gave  the  prelates  the  great  moral  weight 
In  Stephens  they  possesscd  in  Stephen's  reign,  and  to  per- 
reign.  ceivc  how  vast  was  the  importance  of  main- 

taining: the  alliance  between  them  and  the  crovvn.  We 
learn  too  how  the  many  streams  of  influence  which  they 
guided  reacted  upon  the  clerical  body  itself,  and  pro- 
duced several  distinct  schools  or  classes  of  ecclesiastical 
character.  In  the  first  place,  the  kings  had  taken  pre- 
Secular  \dX^'s>  to  be  their  ministers,  and  had  promoted 

school.  their  ministers  to  be  prelates.     Bishop  Roger 

of  Salisbury  was  not  only  a  powerful  ecclesiastic  but 
the  royal  justiciar,  the  head  of  all  the  courts  and  the 
treasurer  of  all  the  money  of  the  king.  Under  him 
was  a  set  of  clerks  who  would  set  the  fashion  for  one 
school    of   the    clergy,  secular    in    mind   and   aim   and 


J 


T 


CH.   IV 


Henry  IL  and  Thomas  Beckct, 


6i 


manners  ;  often  married  men,  so  far  as  their  right  to 
marry  can  be  accounted  valid,  canons  of  cathedrals, 
where  they  provided  for  their  children  and  made  estates 
for  themseh  es  ;  worthy  men  most  of  them,  the  predeces- 
sors of  the  clerical  magistrates  of  this  day,  far  greater  in 
quarter  sessions  and  county  meetings  than  in  convocation 
or  missionary  work.  That  was  one  very  strong  school — a 
school  that  required  tender  handling  both  pohtically  and 
ecclesiastically,  and  in  the  view  of  which  we  can  under- 
stand how  important  it  was  for  Bishop  Roger  to  secure 
the  consent  of  the  Pope  and  the  archbishops  to  his  hold- 
ing secular  office.  For  it  is  said  that,  worldly  man  as 
he  was,  he  refused,  as  a  matter  of  conscience  as  well  as 
policy,  to  act  as  the  king's  minister  without  the  distinct 
approval  of  the  saintly  Anselm  and  his  successors,  the 
archbishops  as  well  as  the  popes. 

A  second  class  was  composed  of  the  ecclesiastical 
politicians,  men,  that  is,  who  were  before  all  things 
Churchmen,  of  whom  Henry  of  Winchester  Ecciesiasti- 
is  one  of  the  best  specimens.  These  did  not,  ^^"^  school. 
like  the  first,  sink  the  clergyman  in  the  statesman  or  the 
magistrate,  and  accept  preferment  as  the  mere  reward  of 
political  service  ;  they  were  not  the  Sadducees  but  the 
Pharisees  of  the  time  ;  they  would  not  marry,  nor  sell 
livings,  nor  act  against  the  Pope  ;  whatever  secular  power 
they  could  get  they  would  use  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Church.  To  say  this  is  not  to  condemn  them  ;  they  saw 
in  the  service  of  the  Church  the  clearest  and  readiest  way 
of  serving  both  God  and  man.  These  men  were  in  tone 
and  morals  a  higher  set  of  men  than  the  first.  They  were 
in  close  alliance  with  the  see  of  Rome ;  they  knew  far  more 
than  the  others  about  the  state  of  Christendom  gene- 
rally; they  were  scholars,  the  founders  of  universities,  the 
protectors  of  culture ;  they  prevented  the  Church  from 
becoming  thoroughly  secular;  and,  if  there  was  a  higher 


62 


The  Early  Plantagcncts. 


CH.   IV. 


cii.  IV.      Henry  II.  and  Thomas  Bcckct. 


63 


Spiritual 

school. 


type,  it  was  a  type  also  much  more  liable  to  be  assumed 
by  counterfeits.  It  is  a  great  mistake  to  undervalue  this 
school.  It  would  seem  probable  that  both  Archbishop 
Theobald  as  well  as  his  rival,  Henry  of  Winchester, 
should  be  referred  to  it ;  it  was  the  party  of  the  Legate, 
the  party  that  tried  to  introduce  the  Civil  law  as  a  subject 
of  study  at  Oxford  ;  that  went  abroad  to  attend  councils, 
that  bearded  royal  tyranny  in  Church  and  State. 

And  there  was  a  higher  type— a  type  we  will  call  it 
rather  than  a  school,  because  the  graces  that  compose  it 
The  ^"^^  "ot  learned  in  men's  schools,  but  under 

the  discipline  of  a  Divine  master:  the  pure 
religious  type,  which  we  find,  with  some  alloy, 
in  such  men  as  Anselm ;  the  meek  and  quiet  spirit  that 
has  a  zeal  for  righteousness  and  a  love  of  souls  ;  that 
will  bear  all  things  for  itself,  but  rise  up  to  avenge  the 
cause  of  the  helpless.  It  is  the  noblest  type  ;  to  which 
belong  the  true  hero,  the  true  martyr,  the  saint  indeed  ; 
but  it  is  a  type  which  to  man's  eye  is  the  most  easily 
counterfeited  by  the  popular  hero,  the  self-advertising 
saint,  the  professed  candidate  for  mock  martyrdom. 

Such,  then,  are  the  three  types  of  character  which 
perhaps  mark  all  ages  of  the  Church,  but  \\hich  come 
out  most  markedly  and  distinctly  in  the  present  period  ; 
and  the  career  of  Thomas  Bcckct,  the  hero  of  this  part 
of  our  national  history,  cannot  be  understood  without 
a  clear  idea  of  them. 

For  Bcckct  was  a  vcr\'  extraordinary  man.  In  what- 
ever he  did  he  acted  on  Solomon's  maxim  and  did  it  with 
Rise  of  h's  might ;  and,  as  he  passed  through  each  of 

BecSr  the  phases  of  character  that  mark  these  three 
schools,  his  career  may  be  divided  accord- 
ingly. In  the  first  phase  he  was  a  secular  Churchman. 
He  had  been  trained  in  the  house  of  his  father,  a  Lon- 
don merchant  of  Norman  blood  ;  he  had  been  schooled 


; 


4- 


in  accounts  by  Master  Octonummi  ;  he  had  learned 
accomplishments  in  the  hall  of  Richer  de  TAigle  ;  and 
then  had  entered  Archbishop  Theobald's  family  as  secre- 
tary. There,  no  doubt,  he  got  his  knowledge  of  civil 
and  canon  law,  and  learned  the  business  of  a  diploma- 
tist. Although  Theobald  was  an  ecclesiastical  politician 
of  the  second  stamp,  he  did  not  as  yet  impress  that 
character  on  Becket.  John  of  Salisbury,  who  also  was 
Theobald's  secretary,  took  some  such  impression  from  him, 
and  shows  it  in  a  constant  criticism  of  Becket  from  the 
point  of  view  natural  to  the  Churchman  pure  and  simple. 
Still  Becket  learned  that  side  of  life  during  these  experi- 
ences. With  this  training  he  was  qualified  not  only  to 
conduct  the  negotiations  that  secured  the  crown  to  Henry 
IL,  but,  when  he  was  made  Chancellor,  as  he  Becket  as 
was  at  the  king's  accession,  he  was  able  to  chancellor. 
manage  and  extend  the  duties  of  his  office,  magnifying 
it  as  no  other  Chancellor  had  done  before.  The  Chan- 
cellor was  a  sort  of  secretary  of  state  for  all  depart- 
ments; he  was  not  so  powerful  in  himself,  or  in  his  con- 
stitutional position,  as  the  Justiciar,  but  he  had  nearly  as 
much  real  power  through  his  hold  on  the  king,  whose 
letters  he  wrote,  whose  accounts  he  kept,  all  whose  formal 
business  he  recorded,  and  all  whose  irksome  duties  he 
took  off  his  hands.  We  find  Becket,  then,  in  this  rela- 
tion to  Henry,  who  had  no  great  love  of  public  pomp, 
and  was  willing  enough  that  the  Chancellor  should  share 
the  expense.  Bcckct  at  this  time  appears  to  us  as  a  very 
splendid  officer,  with  a  great  retinue  of  knights  and  a 
great  revenue  from  his  churches  ;  an  indefatigable  letter- 
writer,  an  efficient  judge,  a  cunning  financier ;  as  yet  not 
a  great  Churchman  in  politics,  for  the  plan  of  taxing  the 
bishops  by  scutage  was  set  on  foot  by  him,  in  opposition 
to  the  archbishop,  his  old  patron. 

Henry  might  well  think  himself  fortunate  in  securing 


64 


The  Early  Plantagencts, 


CH.   IV 


A.D.  1 162.    Henry  II.  and  Thomas  Becket. 


65 


such  a  minister  ;  he  threw  himself  with  entire  confidence 
upon  him,  and  there  can  be  Httle  doubt  that 

Henrv  >  '  '  .  .       - 


confidence 
in  him. 


Becket  is  to  a  great  degree  answerable  for 
the  grievous  change  in  Henry's  character  that 
followed  their  quarrel.  To  anticipate,  however:  when 
Henry  made  his  Chancellor  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
he  contemplated  securing,  at  the  head  of  the  Church,  a 
friend  who  would  sympathise  with  his  statesmanlike 
designs,  who  was  sure  to  be  able  to  sway  the  clergy,  and 
who  would  repay  his  unbounded  confidence  with  grateful 
and  straightforward  service.  But  he  was  sadly  disap- 
pointed. Becket  was  not  the  man  to  exchange  his 
splendid  position  as  Chancellor  for  the  life  of  an  ordi- 
nary commonplace  archbishop.  If  he  undertook  the 
office  he  would  act  up  to  the  highest  idea  of  its  require- 
ments. Never  was  there  a  more  sudden  transformation. 
One  day  he  is,  like  Roger  of  Salisbury,  hear- 
ing causes  and  framing  his  budget,  counting 
out  his  money,  or  reviewing  his  knights ;  the 
next  he  is  Lanfranc  in  miniature,  or  not  so  much  Lan- 
franc  as  Anselm,  or  Henry  of  Winchester  rather  than 
Anselm;— the  high  ecclesiastic  pure  and  simple,  coveting 
the  Papal  legation,  hand-and-glove  with  the  Pope,  full  of 
ideas  based  on  the  canon  law,  which  his  friend  Gratian 
had  just  codified  in  the  Decretum ;  an  unflinching  and 
unreasoning  supporter  of  all  clerical  claims,  right  or 
wrong,  wholesome  or  unwholesome,  consistent  or  incon- 
sistent with  his  previous  life  and  opinions. 

A  third  phase  awaits  him.  In  his  new  character  he  is 
pretty  sure  to  quarrel  with  the  king ;  he  does  so,  and, 
„    ,     .  however  just  his  cause,  he  does  it  in  a  way 

Becket  in  -'  .     ,.  •      1  •     r  u* 

his  later  that  does  not  prejudice  us  m  his  favour ;  nis 

phase.  object    is    studiously    to   put    Henry   in   the 

wrong  ;    his    conduct    in    the    last    degree    exasperating. 
The   second  form  of  clerical  life  has  served  its  time. 


Becket 

becomes 

archbishop. 


X. 


ji 


Now  he  comes  out  as  a  candidate  for  martyrdom.  In 
this  also  he  will  do  what  he  has  to  do  with  all  his  might. 
Unmindful  of  the  early  friendship  of  the  king,  from 
whom  certainly  he  had  never  met  with  anything  but 
kindness  and  the  most  familiar  courtesy,  he  declares  that 
he  is  in  danger  of  his  life;  he  insists  on  celebrating  mass 
at  the  altar  of  the  protomartyr  and  on  appearing  at  court 
carrying  his  own  cross,  partly  as  a  safeguard  against 
violence  which  he  has  no  reason  to  apprehend,  partly  in 
an  awful  miserable  parody  of  the  great  day  of  Calvary. 
All  the  rest  of  his  career  is  the  same — a  morbid  craving 
after  the  honours  of  martyrdom,  or  confessorship  at  the 
least,  a  crafty  policy  for  embroiling  Henry  with  his  many 
enemies,  combined  with  a  plausible  allegation  that  it  is 
all  for  his  good  and  that  of  the  Church.  There  is  in  him 
some  greatness  of  character  still,  some  sincerity,  we  will 
hope,  but  no  self-renunciation,  no  self-restraint,  no  earnest 
striving  for  peace  ;  little,  very  little,  care  of  the  flock  over 
which  he  was  overseer,  and  which  was  left  shepherdless. 

On  a  calm  review  of  his  life  it  seems  that  Becket  was 
most  at  home  in  his  first  position;  that  in  the  second  he 
was  ill  at  ease  and  awkward,  divided  between  two  aims 
and  failing  in  conduct  as  well  as  in  cause.  The  third 
phase  becomes  him  least  of  all ;  and  it  is  only  by  con- 
sidering the  horrible  sufferings  of  his  death  that  we 
pardon  him  for  the  conduct  that  brought  the  pains  of 
death  upon  him. 

Briefly  to  recapitulate  the  stages  of  the  career  of  this 
man,  to  whom  even  his  enemies  allow  the  title  of  great- 
ness: Becket  was  Chancellor  from  the  accession  of  Henry, 
in  1 154,  to  his  consecration  as  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
in  June  1 162.  The  king  was  still  in  France  when  Theo- 
bald died.  It  was  regarded  as  a  somewhat  unprecedented 
measure  to  make  so  secular  a  person  as  Thomas  arch- 
bishop, but  Henry's  influence  and  his  own  were  supreme ; 


Af,  //. 


F 


66 


The  Early  Plan tagaicts.       a.  d.  i  i 63. 


A.  D. 


1 163.    Henry  II.  and  Thomas  Becket. 


67 


he  had  accepted  the  dignity  with  misgiving,  but  having 
He  becomes  accepted  he  did  not  hesitate  about  the  mea- 
archbishop.  sures  to  be  taken  for  securing  it ;  the  consent 
of  the  bishops  and  monks  was  readily  yielded,  and  one 
who  was,  so  far  as  his  place  of  birth  could  make  him,  an 
Englishman,  sat  once  more  on  the  throne  of  Augustine. 
All  difliculties  were  smoothed  for  him;  he  had  not  to  go 
to  Rome  for  his  pall;  it  arrived  a  few  weeks  after  his 
consecration  ;  and  he  had  six  months'  quiet  and  peace 
in  his  new  dignity  before  the  king  came  home. 

This  was  on  the  25th  of  January,  1163.  Henry  found, 
as  was  to  be  expected,  that  considerable  arrears  of  busi- 
Henry  ness  had  accrued  during  his   long   absence. 

France/'^°'"  He  was  meditating  a  new  expedition  to  Wales 
"63.  in   order  to  enforce  the  homage  due  to  him 

and  his  heir-apparent  from  the  Welsh  princes.  The  trial 
of  Henry  of  Essex,  who  had  been  accused  of  treason 
and  cowardice  by  Robert  de  Montfort,  for  letting  fall  the 
standard  at  the  battle  of  Consilt,  and  who  was  to  defend 
himself  by  battle,  was  also  imminent  ;  and  already  some 
apprehensions  were  felt  as  to  the  conduct  of  the  arch- 
Becket  bishop.    He  had  resigned,  much  in  opposition 

resigns  the  to  Hcnry's  wishcs,  his  office  of  Chancellor  on 
ancer>.  j^.^  appointment  as  Archbishop,  and  had  pro- 
cured from  the  justiciar  a  full  acquittance  for  all  sums 
which  he  had  received  for  the  king  during  his  tenure  of 
office,  especially  the  sums  arising  from  the  revenue  of 
vacant  churches,  a  source  of  royal  income  which  was 
specially  administered  by  the  Chancellor.  But  he  had 
not  resigned  the  great  manors  of  Eye  and  Berkhampstead, 
which  were  usually  held  as  part  of  the  endowment  of  the 
Chancellor  ;  these  it  is  possible  he  intended  to  hold  only 
until  his  successor  was  appointed,  but  no  successor  was 
appointed,  and  the  strange  spectacle  was  seen  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  holding  two  of  the  finest  pieces 


-  -y 

,4 


of  the  secular  patronage  of  the  crown  without  any  official 
claim  to  them. 

In  another  point  he  also  showed  himself  somewhat 
grasping,  or  at  all  events  made  enemies  at  a  moment  when 
his  experience  should  have  taught  him  to  be  He  enforces 
more  politic.  Many  of  the  old  possessions  of  jS^ghtTot^his 
his  see  had  come  into  the  hands  of  laymen,  see. 
who  were  negligent  in  performing  their  services,  and 
probably  wished  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  the  archbishop 
altogether.  In  order  to  enforce  his  rights  he  acted  in  a 
way  which,  justifiable  as  it  was,  was  nevertheless  impru- 
dent; the  result  was  a  royal  inquest  as  to  the  arch  episco- 
pal fiefs ;  and,  as  the  archbishop  was  already  becoming 
unpopular,  the  verdict  of  the  jury  robbed  him  of  some 
rights  that  might  otherwise  have  been  successfully  main- 
tained. In  all  this,  however,  he  had  no  coolness  with 
the  king.  Henry  felt  the  resignation  of  the  Chancellor- 
ship as  a  personal  wrong  ;  for  although  in  the  empire, 
where  the  king  looked  for  precedents,  the  office  of  Arch- 
chancellor  was  held  by  the  three  great  metropolitans  of 
Germany,  Becket  had  followed  the  usage  almost  un- 
broken in  England  in  resigning;  but  there  was  nothing 
like  an  open  quarrel.  The  spring  of  the  year  passed 
without  one.  In  March  the  fate  of  Henry  of  Essex  was 
decided  ;  he  was  defeated  in  the  battle  trial,  and  the  king, 
greatly  against  his  will  it  was  said— for  he  believed  that 
the  fall  of  the  standard  at  Consilt  was  accidental— was 
obliged  by  the  Norman  law  to  declare  his  estates  for- 
feited. Henry  of  Essex  retired  into  a  monastery,  and  so 
Henry  lost  one  of  his  best  friends. 

Immediately  after  the  king  went  on  his  second  Welsh 
war,  a  sort  of  military  demonstration  marked     second 
by  no  great  victory  or  defeat,  and  on  the  i  st  of    "^Veish  war, 
J  uly  called  a  great  court  at  Woodstock  to  wit- 
ness the  homage  of  the  princes.     The  King  of  Scots 

F  2 


68 


The  Early  Plant agenets.        a.d.  1163. 


made  his  appearance  at  this*  council,  and  took  the  oath 
Council  at  of  fcaltv  to  the  htlle  heir  to  the  crown,  Henry, 
Woodstock.     ^yi^Q  ^yjjg  j^Q^y  eight  years  old.     This  was  the 

first  opportunity  that  the  archbishop    had  of  declaring 
his   new   attitude.      He   had    been   to   visit    the    Pope, 
Alexander  HI.,  at  Tours.     The  Pope  was  in  exile  from 
his   see ;    the    Emperor   Frederick    had  refused   to   ac- 
knowledge him,  and  had  set  up  an  anti-Pope.     Henry 
and  Lewis,  the  former  probably  acting  by  Becket's  ad- 
vice, had  in  1 161   recognised  Alexander  as  the  Catholic 
Pope,  and  Tours,  where  he  was  holding  the  council  at 
which   Becket   attended,   was   within    the   dominions   of 
Henr)'.     We  can   only    suppose   that   the   sight  of  the 
Pope   kindled    Becket's   zeal,  not   so   much  against   his 
own   lord    who    was   the    Pope's   friend,  as   against   the 
secular  power  in  general,  of  which  he  had  been  hitherto 
a  devoted  servant.     Anyhow  he  came  back  from  Tours 
prepared,   on   the  first    question,  ecclesiastical   or   civil, 
which  might  arise,  to  take  the  lead  of  what  might  be 
called  the  constitutional  opposition;  an  idea  which  is,  for 
the  first  time  since  the  Norman  Conquest,  realised  in  the 
course  he  now  adopted. 

As  we  should  expect  from  our  knowledge  of  later 
crises  of  the  kmd,  the  bone  of  contention  was  found  in 
Becket  ^'^^  financial  budget  of  the  year.     Henry  was, 

opposes  the  as  usual,  busy  with  his  reforms  ;  and,  although 
financial  he  was  an  honest  reformer  and  had  a  true 

point.  genius   for  organisation,  he  liked  best  those 

methods  of  reform  that  helped  to  fill  the  treasury.  The 
administration  of  the  sherifts  was  during  the  latter  part 
of  the  reign  a  frequent  subject  of  legislative  ordinance, 
and  the  question  which  now  arose  was  connected  with 
it.  The  sheriff's  had  been  used  to  collect  from  every 
hicfe  of  land  in  their  counties  two  shillings  annually.  It 
was  probable  that  out  of  this  a  fixed  sum  was  paid  to  the 


A.D.  1 163.   Henry  11.  and  Thomas  Becket.  69 

king  under  the  name  of  Danegeld  ;  certainly  the  Dane- 
geld  was  collected  at  that  rate;  and  as  the  sums  paid 
into  the  Exchequer  under  that  name  were  very  small 
compared  with  the  extent  of  land  that  paid  the  tax,  it  is 
probable  that  the  sheriff's  paid  a  fixed  composition,  and 
retained  the  surplus  as  wages  for  their  services  in  the 
execution  of  judicial  work  and  police.  Our  authorities 
merely  tell  us  that  the  king  proposed  to  take  away  this 
money  from  the  sheriffs  and  bring  it  into  the  general  ac- 
count of  his  revenue.  Thomas  opposed  this;  declared 
that  the  tax  should  not  go  into  the  king's  coffers,  that 
the  sheriffs  should  not  lose,  that  the  lands  of  his  Church 
should  pay  the  tax  no  more ;  and  he  seems  to  have 
prevailed,  although  we  have  no  positive  record  to  that 

eff"ect. 

Two  most  important  points  stand  out  here.     This   is 
the  first  case  of  any  express  opposition  being  made  to 
the  kings  financial  dealings  since  the  Con-     Constitu- 
quest.       Until    now,    whenever    money    was     [Importance 
wanted,  the  royal  necessities  were  laid  before    of  this  act. 
the  national  council,  the  assembly  of  bishops,  earls,  and 
great  vassals,  and  others,  and  the  method  was  explained 
by  which  they  were  to  be  satisfied.    If  he  wanted  to  marry 
his  daughter,  or  to  knight  his  son,  or  to  tax  his  towns,  he 
said  how  much  he  wanted,  and  it  was  paid.     Here,  how- 
ever, we  find  the  archbishop  objecting  to  the  royal  deal- 
ings with  the  Danegeld,  and  thus  asserting  the  right  of 
the  national  council  to  refuse  as  well  as  to  bestow  money. 
A  second  point  is,  that  although  ever  since  the  reign  of 
Ethelred,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  years  of    Abolition  of 
Edward  the  Confessor— who  had,  as  the  legend     l^a"^g^>d. 
ran,  seen  the  devil  sitting  on  the  money-bags,  and  had, 
therefore,  abolished  the  tax — and  certainly  ever  since  the 
days  of  the  Conqueror,  this  odious  impost  had  been  levied, 
from  this  time  it  ceases  to  appear  by  this  name  in  the 


70 


The  EiD'ly  Plajitagcncts.        a.d.  1163. 


new 
enemies. 


rolls  of  the  revenue.  Henry  II.  devised  other  ways  of 
getting  money,  but  the  Danegeld  appears  no  more ;  and 
thus  the  first  fruit  of  the  first  constitutional  opposition  is 
the  abolition  of  the  most  ancient  property-tax,  imjxjsed 
as  a  bribe  for  the  Danes.  We  may  well  imagine  how 
angry  Henry  would  be  at  this  interference,  coming  from 
the  man  who  had  hitherto  been  his  right  hand  in  all  his 
reforms. 

The  courtiers  saw  it,  and  they  began  to  raise  little 
suits  against  Becket  on  little  matters  by  which  they 
Beckets  might  harass  him,  and,  like  true  courtiers, 
accelerate  the  fall  of  a  falling  man.  Such  in 
particular  were  John  the  Marshal,  who  raised 
a  claim  touching  one  of  the  archiepiscopal  manors,  and 
William  of  Eynesford,  who  claimed  the  patronage  of  one 
of  the  archbishop's  livings,  and  was  rashly  excommuni- 
cated by  Becket,  contrary  to  the  custom  which  forbade 
Council  at  ^^  cxcommunication  of  a  tenant-in-chief  of 
Westmin-        the  king  without   the   king's  licence.     Three 

ster,  1 163.  ,     °,  ,   ** 

months,  however,  passed  away;  and  on  the 
1st  of  October  the  king  called  a  great  council  at  West- 
minster. 

In  the  process  of  his  reforms  he  was  startled  by  the 
absolute  immunity  accorded  to  the  crimes  of  the  clergy, 
or   persons    pretending    to   be    clergymen,   through   the 
double  jurisdiction  of  the  lay  and  Church  courts  which 
was  introduced  by  William  the  Conqueror.      Any  clerk 
who   committed   a    crime    could    be   demanded   by   his 
bishop   from   the   officers   of    secular  justice,   and   sen- 
tenced by  him  to  ecclesiastical  punishment,  which,  ac- 
cording to  the  law  of  William,  was  to  be  enforced  by 
the  secular  arm.     But,  in  fact,  so  much  afraid  were  the 
bishops  of  any  clerk  being  tried  by  the  lay  courts,  and 
so  jealous  were   the   lay  officers  of  being   called  on  to 
enforce  the  ecclesiastical   punishments,  that   the   whole 


A.D.  1 163.    Henry  11.  and  Thomas  Beeket,  J\ 

system  broke  down.    Thieves  and  murderers  who  called 
themselves  clerks  were  demanded  by  the  bishops  and 
sentenced  to  penances  and  deprivation  of  orders,   two 
punishments  at  which  they  could  afford  to  laugh.     Henry 
proposed  that,  when  such  prisoners  were  taken  and  found 
guilty,  they  should  be  delivered  to  the  bishops  to  be  spi- 
ritually punished,  and  then  to  the  secular  officers,  to  have 
sufficient  punishment,  to  be  hanged  or  blinded  or  impri- 
soned as  the  mild  laws  of  the  period  ordered.     Thomas 
would  not  hear  of  this — one  punishment  was     Becket 
enough  for  one  fault ;  if  the  clergyman  was  a    ^f/ricar  ^^^ 
thief,  and  proved  so  to  be,  let  him  be  degraded     immunities. 
— that  was  enough ;   if  he  broke   the  law  again,  the  law 
might  have  him,  for  he  was  after  degradation  entitled 
to  the  privileges  of  a  clergyman  no  more.     Henry  grew 
very  angry  at  this  foolish  and  imprudent  pioposal.    Such, 
he  said,  had  not  been  the  law  in  the  time  of  his  grand- 
father,   the    great    king    Henry   the    Elder,   the   lion   of 
righteousness.   He  would  not  submit,  but  would     Henry 
enforce  the  ancient  rights  and  customs  of  the    ^j^TSciem 
realm  as  his  grandfather  had  done.    But  what,     customs. 
it  was  asked,  were  those  customs?     The  reign  of  Stephen 
had  witnessed  a  total  abeyance  of  secular  law,  and  had 
listened  to  very  extraordinary  assertions  of  ecclesiastical 
right  and  liberty.    Let  the  ancient  customs  be  first  ascer- 
tained, and  then  it  would  be  time  to  say  whether  or  no 
the  clerg)'  and  laity  could  act  together.     Becket  allowed 
the  bishops  to  promise  to  observe  these  customs  '  saving 
their  order.'     Henry  declared  that  that  meant  nothing. 
The  assembly  was  broken  up  in  wrath.      The  king  or- 
dered  the    manors  of  Eye   and   Berkhampstead   to  be 
surrendered,  and  the  archbishop  in  two   or  three  later 
interviews  sought  in  vain  for  a  reconciliation. 

Whether  in  this  Henry  acted  from  passionate  indig- 
nation, or  because  he  saw  that  Becket  had  taken  on  him- 


72 


The  Early  Plajitagcuets.        a.d.  1164. 


Clarendon, 
1 164. 


self  the  maintenance  of  the  extreme  views  propounded  by 
Henry's  the  Canonists  as  to  the  immunity  of  spiritual 

motives.  j^gj^^  ^yg  cannot  now  venture  to  determine. 

The  breach  between  the  two  was  never  healed ;  both 
probably  saw  that  it  never  could  even  be  compromised. 
The  dispute  had  its  real  basis  in  the  difficulty  of  ad- 
justing legal  and  spiritual  relations,  which  even  at  the 
present  day  seems  no  nearer  receiving  a  permanent  set- 
tlement. 

Soon   after   Christmas    another    court   was    held,  at 
Clarendon,  one  of  those  forest  palaces  at  which,  as  at 
Council  of       Woodstock,  Henry  and  his  sons  used  to  call 
the  counsellors  together,  and  diversify  busi- 
ness with  sport.    It  was  called  for  the  purpose 
of  finishing  the  business  begun  at  Westminster.     The 
archbishop   was   asked   whether   he    would    accept   the 
ancient  customs ;   he  declined  to  do  it  without  making 
conditions.     The  king  then  ordered  that  the  'recognition 
of  the  customs '  should  be  read.     This  was  the  report  of 
the  great  committee  appointed  to  ascertain  and  commit 
them  to  writing,  a  committee  which  nominally  contained 
nearly  all  the  bishops  and  barons,  but  which   Becket  de- 
clared to  consist  only  of  Richard  de  Lucy,  the  justiciar,  and 
Jocelin  de  Bailleul,  a  French  lawyer.     This  report  was  the 
Consiitu-        celebrated  Constitutions  of  Clarendon,  a  sort  of 
code  or  concordat,  in  sixteen  chapters,  which 
included  not  merely  a  system  of  definite  rules 
to  regulate  the  disposal  of  the  criminal   clerg)-,  but   a 
method   of  proceeding  by  which  all  quarrels  that  arose 
between   the   clergy    and    laity   might   be   satisfactorily 
heard  and  determined.     Questions  of  advowsons,  of  dis- 
puted   estates,   of   excommunication,  the  rights   of  the 
spiritual    courts    over    laymen,   and   of   lay   courts  over 
spiritual  men,  the  rights  of  the  crown  in  vacant  churches 
and  in  the  nomination  to  benefices,  and  the  right  of  appeal 


lions  of 
Clarendon 


\ 


•<*'' 


" 


'«►. 


A.D.  1 1 64.    He7iry  II.  and  Thomas  Becket. 


7Z 


in  ecclesiastical  causes,  were  all  defined.  No  one  was  to 
carry  a  suit  farther  than  the  archiepiscopal  court ;  that 
is,  no  one  was  to  appeal  to  the  Pope  without  the  king's 
leave.  Prelates  and  parsons  were  not  to  quit  the  king- 
dom without  licence.  The  sons  of  rustics  or  villeins  were 
not  to  be  ordained  without  leave  of  the  lords  on  whose 
lands  they  were  born.  Many  similar  customs  were  re- 
corded, which  show  that  Henry  had  determined  to  set 
the  jurisprudence  of  the  kingdom,  as  touching  laymen 
and  clergy  alike,  on  a  just  and  equal  basis;  no  unfairness 
towards  the  spiritual  estate  was  intended,  but  simply 
the  extinction  or  restriction  of  the  immunities,  the  exist- 
ence of  which  threw  the  whole  system  into  disorder. 
An  appeal  to  Rome  must  not  be  allowed  to  paralyse  the 
whole  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  any  more  than  an  asser- 
tion that  the  murderer  or  the  murdered  man— for  the  im- 
munity told  both  ways — was  a  clerk,  should  be  allowed  to 
ensure  the  escape  and  impunity  of  the  murderer.  Becket 
was  perhaps,  at  the  first  sight  of  these  Con-  Becket's 
stitutions,  inclined  or,  as  he  would  have  said,  c""duct. 
tempted  to  yield.  He  accepted  the  Constitutions.  Al- 
most as  soon  as  he  had  done  so  he  drew  back ;  either 
he  recalled  his  concession  or  refused  to  set  his  seal  to 
the  acceptance,  or  in  some  way  recanted.  We  have  no 
entirely  trustworthy  evidence ;  but  it  would  seem  he  de- 
clared that  he  had  sinned,  that  he  would  go  to  Rome, 
that  he  would  resign  his  see,  that  he  would  not  act  as 
archbishop  without  first  receiving  special  absolution. 

All  this  had  no  other  effect  than  to  exasperate  Henry 
the  more,  and  to  encourage  the  rapidly  increasing  crowd 
of  Becket's  enemies.     Unfortunately  we  have    council  of 
no  details  for  the  next  six  months,  save  that     Northamp- 

,  ,  ,  .   ,  •  11-  ton,  1 164. 

the  archbishop  once  or  twice   saw  the   king 

in  vain.     In  October   1164,  at   Northampton,  the  cloud 

finally  broke.     Becket's  enemies  saw  their  way  to  crush 


74 


The  Early  Plantagcuets 


A.D.   I164- 


-1169.         Henry  II.  and  Thomas  Bcckct. 


75 


him  altogether,  and  Henry  yielded  to  them.  The  council 
was  formally  summoned;  all  the  persons  who  held  of 
the  king  directly— that  is,  who  were  subject  to  no  lord 
coming  between  them  and  the  king — were  duly  invited ; 
the  greater  barons  probably,  as  had  been  usual  under 
Henry  I.,  and,  as  the  Great  Charter  afterwards  enjoined, 
by  special  letters ;  the  minor  ones  by  a  general  summons 
made  known  through  the  sheriff  in  each  shire.  It  was 
to  the  archbishop  that  the  first  letter  of  summons  ought 
Summons  by  ancicnt  rule  to  have  been  directed.  Instead 
of  Becket.  ^f  ^h^j.  j^g  received  a  writ  through  the  Sherift* 
of  Kent  ordering  him  to  present  himself  at  Northampton 
to  answer  the  complaint  of  John  the  Marshal. 

However  informal  this  was,  Becket  complied,  rather 

than  by  absenting  himself  from  the   court  to   leave  his 

.  cause  in  hands  which  he  could  not  trust.     He 

rlis  trial. 

attended,  and  was  overwhelmed.  First  he  was 
sentenced  to  pay  500  marks  to  John  the  Marshal,  who  was 
declared  to  have  proved  his  claim  against  him.  Then  he 
was  called  on  to  present  the  accounts  of  the  Chancery,  of 
which  he  had  been  acquitted  by  a  general  discharge  when 
he  became  archbishop.  He  now  put  on  the  aspect  of  a 
martyr,  and  declared  himself  ready  to  die  for  the  rights  of 
his  Church.  Henry  and  his  agents  declared  that  it  was  the 
person,  not  the  prelate,  who  was  aimed  at ;  that  they  were 
not  assailing  the  rights  of  the  Church  but  vindicating  the 
laws  of  the  land.  The  bishops  advised  unconditional 
submission,  which  would,  no  doubt  have  been  the  wisest 
course,  for  it  would  have  disarmed  the  king  without 
conceding  any  matter  of  principle;  for  Henry  was  not 
the  man  to  make  an  extreme  use  of  victory,  and  might 
still  perhaps  have  been  induced  to  act  with  moderation. 
Instead  of  this,  as  Henry  grew  more  peremptory  Thomas 
grew  more  provoking;  at  last  he  declared  himself  really 
in  danger,  turned  and  fled. 


^b^'.* 


icA 


\ 


He  went  off  in  disguise  from  Northampton,  and,  after 
several  trying  adventures,  landed  in  Flanders,     „.  ^.  , 

■'      °  •    •        1  "'^  flight. 

whence  he  made  his  way  to  jom  the  pope  at 
Sens,  and  thence  to  Pontigny. 

It  would  be  a  tedious  task  to  trace  the  minute  cir- 
cumstances of  Beckct's  life  during  the  next  six  years; 
they  are  somewhat  obscure,  and  the  large  number  of 
undated  letters  of  the  period  makes  even  the  sequence 
of  the  main  events  puzzling.  The  upshot  of  the  stor>' 
is  briefly  this  : — At  Pontigny  Becket  remained  until 
Henry  threatened  the  whole  Cistercian  body     „.      ., 

^  .  "^        His  exile. 

if  they  did  not  expel  him  ;  m  consequence  of 
that  he  threw  himself  on  the  friendship  of  Lewis  VII.,  who 
appointed  as  his  resting-place  the  abbey  of  St.  Colombe, 
at  Sens.  There  he  remained,  making  occasional  journeys 
on  his  own  business^  until  he  returned  to  Canterbury  in 
1170.  Whilst  at  Pontigny  and  Sens  he  acted  up  to  his 
new  character — wore  a  hair  shirt,  practised  great  mor- 
tifications, and  behaved  as  if  he  believed  himself  to  be 
undergoing  a  sort  of  modified  martyrdom.  All  the  time 
he  was  bringing  all  the  influence  which  he  had  to  bear 
upon  Lewis  VIL,  the  Counts  of  Champagne  and  Flanders, 
and  other  potentates,  to  induce  them  to  take  up  his 
cause,  and  either  by  urging  the  Pope  to  extreme  mea- 
sures, or  by  direct  negotiation  with  Henry,  to  procure 
his  honourable  recall.  The  Pope  would  have  given 
anything  for  peace  and  quietness,  but  he  could  not 
afford  to  alienate  Henry  so  long  as  he  was  on  bad  terms 
with  the  Emperor.  He  sent  commissions  and  legations 
to  Normandy,  of  which  Henry  disposed  either  by  pro- 
mises or  by  plausible  professions  of  his  own  goodwill, 
or  by  substantial  presents  of  the  strongest  of  all  the 
powers  of  silence,  a  handsome  sum  of  gold.  Had  he 
rested  here  he  might  have  been  forgiven.  But  unfor- 
tunately for  his  own  credit  he  determined  to  persecute 


cruel 
measures 


76  The  Early  Plaiitagcnets.,      a.d.  1165- 

the  archbishop  in  the  person  of  his  relations,  and  by 
Henry's  ^  ^'"'^1^1  cdict  senf  many  inoffensive  famihes, 

who  were  connected  with  Thomas,  into  exile. 

Then  Becket  answered  with  excommunica- 
tion, including  in  his  ban  all  the  king's  closest  coun- 
sellors, some  of  whom  had  very  little  to  do  with  the 
proceedings  against  him.  From  time  to  time  Becket 
saw  the  king,  under  the  wing  of  Lewis  VII.;  once  at 
Montmirail,  in  January  1169,  once  at  Montmartre,  in 
November  of  the  same  year.  In  each  case  either  Henry 
was  hypocritical  or  Becket  offensive :  we  cannot  decide. 
At  length  a  new  point  of  quarrel  brought  about  a  re- 
conciliation, and  the  reconciliation  immediately  resulted 
in  Becket's  death. 

Before  ending  the  stor>'  we  may  briefly  recapitulate 
the  chief  events  of  these  years,  outside  the  Becket  Strug- 
Henry's  gle.     In  the  year   1165,  that  succeeding  the 
during  thf     archbishop's  flight  from  Northampton,  Henry 
quarrel.  paid  a  short  visit  to  Normandy,  and  received 
a  proposal  from  Frederick  I.  for  a  couple  of  marriages, 
a  close  league  of  alliance,  and  a  joint  action  against  the 
Pope,  who  was   supposed  to  be  abetting  Becket.     The 
only   result  of  this  was  the  marriage  of  Henry's  eldest 
Alliance         daughter,  Matilda,  with  Henry  the  Lion,  Duke 
Germany.        °^  Saxony  and  Bavaria,  at  this  moment  Fre- 
derick's most   intimate  friend  and  kinsman, 
later  on  his   enemy   and   victim.      Neither    Henry   nor 
England  could   be   persuaded   to  accept  the  anti-Pope, 
but  the  temporising  action  of  the  king's  agents  in  Ger- 
many gave  Becket  an  opportunity  of  involving  all  alike 
in  a  charge  of  heresy  and  apostasy. 

After  his  return  to  England,  later  in  the  year,  Henry 

Third  rn^'^de  his  third  Welsh  expedition,  which  had 

Welsh  war,     no  more  permanent   effect   than    the  former 

ones,   as   an    attempt   either   to   subdue   the 

country  or  to  secure  the  peace  of  the  borders.     It  was 


- 1 1 70. 


Henry  11.  and  Thomas  Becket. 


77 


carried  out  with  an  amount  of  cruelty  which  shows  Henry  s 
character  to  have  already  deteriorated.    After  his  return  he 
held,  early  in  1 166,  another  council  at  Claren-     Assize  of 
don,  also  marked  by  an  important  act  of  legis-     clarendon, 
lation,  the  Assize  of  Clarendon,  by  which  the 
criminal  law  was  reformed,  and  the  grand  jury  system 
established  or  reformed  in  ever>'  shire. 

As  soon  as  this  was  done  he  went  to  Normandy,  in 
March  1166,  and  stayed  away  until  March  Long  visit 
1 1 70.  During  this  time  little  or  nothing  but  to  France. 
the  ordinary  business  of  justice  and  taxation  is  recorded 
in  English  authorities.  The  Becket  quarrel  was  the  all- 
engrossing  subject,  the  sole  question  of  public  interest. 
Abroad  the  view  is  only  diversified  by  negotiation  and 
border  warfare  with  Lewis  VII.-  and.  by  the  carrying  out 
of  Henrys  plan  for  securing  possession  of  Brittany  by 
the  marriage  of  his  third  son,  Geoffrey,  with  the  heiress 
of  the  count.  Having  spent  nearly  four  years  in  this 
way  he  returned,  in  order  to  look  after  business  at 
home,  and  in  particular  to  see  his  eldest  son,  who  was 
fifteen,  crowned  as  his  associate  and  successor  in  the 
kingdom.  The  importance  of  the  former  acts  comes 
into  prominence  in  the  later  history  of  the  reign.  The 
coronation  was  the  first  of  a  series  of  e\ents  which  sealed 
Becket's  fate.  It  was  solemnised  on  the  14th  Coronation 
ofjune,  at  Westminster.  The  Archbishop  of  jf^;;",;,"""^ 
York,  Roger  of  Pont  I'Eveque,  an  old  rival  of  "70. 
Thomas  Becket,  placed  the  crowp  on  the  boy's  head,  in 
contravention  of  the  right  of  Canterbury,  and  in  the 
absence  of  the  little  Queen  IMargaret.  Lewis  was  ex- 
asperated by  this  act  of  neglect  or  disrespect  shown  to 
his  daughter;  Becket  was  maddened  by  the  contempt 
shown  for  his  authority.  The  storm  began  to  rage  ; 
Lewis  went  to  war  ;  Thomas,  and  the  counts  whom  he 
made  his  friends,  besieged  the  Pope  with  prayers,  and 
at  last  he  sent  or  promised  to  send  a  definitive  legation 


7S 


The  Early  Plantagencts. 


A.D.  1 1 70. 


A  I)  1 1 70.    Henry  II.  and  1  konias  Bccket. 


79 


to  place  Henry's  dominions  under  interdict,  and  compel 
him  to  recall  the  archbishop. 

Then  Henry  gave  way.  Crossing  to  Normandy  a 
few  days  after  the  coronation,  he  met  Recket  at  Freteval 
Reconciiia-  in  July,  and  there  consented  to  the  return  of 
hTh^  and  ^^^  o^^^^  enemy.  Three  months,  however,  in- 
Becket.  tervened  before  Becket  started  for  home,  and 

during  the  time  he  had  several  meetings  with  the  king, 
in  which  he  behaved,  or  his  behaviour  was  interpreted, 
in  a  way  very  prejudicial  to  his  reputation  for  sincerity. 
Becket's  At  last  he  reached  England,  early  in  Decem- 
return.  ^^^j-,  and  as  soon  as  he  landed  began  to  ex- 

communicate the  bishops  who  had  crowned  the  boy 
Henry.  At  London  and  at  Canterbury  he  was  received 
with  delight.  Henry  had  become  unpopular :  the  arch- 
bishop's popularity  had  been  increased  by  his  absence, 
and  the  multitude  does  occasionally  sympathise  with  a 
man  who  has  been  oppressed.  The  news  of  his  rash, 
intemperate  conduct  reached  Henry  at  court,  at  Bur, 
near  Bayeux,  where  he  had  established  himself  after  a 
very  severe  illness  in  the  autumn.  In  high  passion  the 
king  spoke  works  which  he  would  have  recalled  at  once, 
Henry's  but   which   laid  on   him   a   lifelong   burden : 

rash  words.  <  Would  all  his  Servants  stand  by  and  see  him 
thus  defied  by  one  whom  he  had  himself  raised  from 
poverty  to  wealth  and  power  ?  Would  no  one  rid  him 
of  the  troublesome  clerk  t ' 

Armed  by  no  public  grievance,  moved  by  no  loyal 
zeal,  but  simply  private  enemies  who  saw  their  way  to 
Murder  of  revenge  and  impunity,  Reginald  FitzUrse, 
Dec'!^^  H"gh  de  Morville,  Richard   Brito,  and  Wil- 

li 70.  liam  de  Tracy,  came  to  Canterbury,  sought 

out  the  archbishop,  and  slew  him.  The  cruelty  on  the 
one  side,  the  heroism  on  the  other — the  savage  barbarity 
of  the  desperate  men,  the  strange  passionate  violence  of 


\ 


the  would-be  martyr,  finding  at  the  last  that  he  could 
not  place  a  curb  on  his  words  or  temper,  even  when  he 
was,  as  he  may  be  truly  believed  to  have  been,  offering 
up  his  life  for  his  Church — forms  a  sad  but  a  thrice- 
told  tale. 

Becket  died  on  the  29th  of  December,  1170,  and  for 
350  years  and  more  that  day  was  kept  in  the  Church 
of  England  as  one  of  the  chief  festivals  after  Easter, 
Whitsuntide,  and  Christmas.  It  is  no  small  proof  of 
the  strength  of  character  which  certainly  marks  Becket 
throughout  his  versatile  career,  that  he  should  have 
made  so  deep  an  impression  not  only  on  England  but 
on  Christendom.  Although  some  allowance  must  be 
made  for  the  influence  of  superstition,  and  doubtless  of 
imposture  also,  in  the  spread  of  the  honour  paid  to 
him  so  widely,  even  such  superstitions  could  not  have 
gathered  round  one  whose  reputation  was  a  mere  fig- 
ment of  monks  and  legend-writers.  He  was  undoubt- 
edly recognised  as  the  champion  of  a  great  cause  which 
was  then  believed  to  need  championship,  and  which 
through  the  greatness  of  the  need  served  to  r^^^  ^^^^ 
excuse  even  such  championship  as  it  found  in  p'^ry  of 
him.  But  whatever  were  the  cause  which  he 
was  maintaining,  he  had  some  part  of  the  glory  that 
belongs  to  all  who  vindicate  liberty,  to  all  who  uphold 
weakness  against  overwhelming  strength. 

And  in  this  view  of  him,  in  which  Englishmen  may 
have  regarded  him  as  the  one  man  able  and  daring  to 
beard  the  mighty  king  whom  the  memory  of  his  fore- 
fathers had  clothed  with  enhanced  terrors,  and  whose  de- 
signs for  their  good  they  were  too  ignorant  to  appreciate. 
Continental  Christendom  saw  him  the  champion  of  the 
papacy  as  against  the  secular  power.  Later  generations 
under  the  recoil  of  the  Reformation  viewed  him  merely 
as  a  traitor,  and  his  cultus  as  an  organised  imposture. 


8o 


The  Early  Plantagenets. 


AD.    1 1  70. 


CH.  V. 


Henry  II.  and  his  Sons. 


81 


More  calmly  regarded— as  now  perhaps  we  may  afford 
to  regard  him— he  appears,  as  we  have  described  him, 
a  strong,  impulsive  man,  the  strength  of  whose  will  is  out 
of  all  proportion  to  the  depth  of  his  character,  with  little 
self-restraint,  little  self-knowledge,  no  statesmanlike  in- 
sight, and  yet  too  much  love  of  intrigue  and  craft.     He 
is  not  a  constructive  reformer  in  the  Church;  in  the  state 
he  is  obstructive  and  exasperating.     Even  on  the  esti- 
mate of  his  friends   he  does  not  come  within  the   first 
rank  of  great  men.     The  cause  for  which  he  fought  was 
not  the  cause  for  which  he  fell,  and  the  cause  of  liberty, 
which  to  some  extent  benefited  by  his  struggle,  was  not 
the  actual  cause  for  which  he  was  consciously  fighting. 
He  appears  small  indeed    by  the  side  of  Ansolm,  who 
knew    well  how  to  distinguish   between   the  real  and 
factitious  importance   of  the   claims  which  he  made  or 
resisted ;  small  indeed  by  the  side  of  his  successor,  St. 
Edmund,  who,  brave  as  Thomas  himself  was  to  declare 
the  right,  chose  the  part  of  the  peace-maker  rather  than 
that  of  the  combatant  and  recognised  the  glory  of  suf- 
fering patiently.     Yet  the  world  s  gratitude  has  often  been 
abundantly  shown  to  men  who  deserv-ed  it  less. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  LATTER  YEARS  OF  HENRY  II. 

Continued  reforms  —  Revolt  of  1173-1174  — Renewed  industry  of 
Henry— His  later  years— Quarrel  with  Richard— Fall  and  death. 

It  is  one  of  the  most  distinct  marks  of  Henry's  mind, 
that  whatever  pressure  his  most  engrossing  employments 
Henry's  put  upon  him,  he  never  for  a  moment  gave  up 

ranceTn  ^^e  task  of  developing  the  great  legal  reforms 

reform.  ^vith  which  he  began  his  reign.     Even  at  the 

siege  of  Bridgenorth,  in  1155,  he  had  lent  an  ear  to  the 


\7; 


-(- 


4. 


ui 


suit  of  the  monks  of  Battle;  in  the  very  thick  of  the 
Becket  struggle  he  was  busily  employed  in  reforming  the 
criminal  law  and  introducing  or  expanding  the  system  of 
presentment  by  grand  jury.     The  same  purpose  is  con- 
stantly maintained,  and  every  great  and  famous  exploit 
of  his  adventurous  life  may  be  matched  with  some  mea- 
sure of  practical  reform,  some  step  in  the  progress  of  a 
policy  by  which  his  people  were  to  be  made  safer  and  his 
own  power  consequently  to  be  made  stronger.     Through- 
out the  whole  reign  there  may  be  traced  a  constant  and 
progressive  policy  of  taking  power  out  of  the     ^•,        .•  . 
hands  of  the  great  vassals  of  the  crown,  of    cal  object 
entrusting  power  to  the  great  body  of  the  free     °  ''' 
men  of  the  nation,  and  of  consolidating  the  royal  autho- 
rity by  employing  the  people  in  the  maintenance  of  law. 
The  blow  struck  at  the  military  power  of  feudalism  by 
the  institution  of  scutage,  the  commutation  of  personal 
service  in  the  field  for  a  money  payment,  was  one  of  the 
first  of  his  distinctive  measures.     The  judicial  power  of 
the  same  body  he  limited,  quite  as  much,  by  the  mission 
of  itinerant  judges  throughout  the  country  to     itinerant 
hear  the  suits  of  the  people  and  to  punish    Justices, 
criminals.     These  visitations  had  been  practised  under 
Henry  I.;  they  were  restored  by  Henry  II.  at  the  begin- 
ning  of  the  reign.     These   officers   were  employed  not 
only  for  the  trial  of  prisoners  and  determination  of  law- 
suits, but  for  the  assessment  and  collection  of  revenue. 
When  the  national  council  had  decreed  a  tax,  the  itinerant 
judges,  as   Barons  of  the   Exchequer,  travelled  through 
the  land,  fixing  the  payments  to  be  made  by 
the  towns  or  by  individuals.     It  was  not  a 
very  difficult  business,  for  as  all  the  revenue  was  raised 
from  the  land  and  the  land  remained  divided  in  much  the 
same  proportions  as  it  was  in  the  Domesday  Book,  that 
famous   record  became,  as  it  were,  the  rate-book  of  the 
M.  H.  G 


Fiscal  work. 


82 


The  Early  Planiagcncts, 


CH.  V. 


CH.  V. 


Henry  II.  and  his  Sons. 


country;  every  landowner  could  refer  to  it,  to  see  what 
was  the  valuation  of  his  property,  and  be  taxed  accord- 
ingly. Only  the  towns,  therefore,  which  had  grown  in 
wealth  and  number  since  the  time  of  the  Conqueror's 
survey,  would  have  occasion  for  debating  with  the 
judges  how  much  they  would  have  to  pay.  Almost  every 
year  of  Henry's  reign  we  find  these  officers  making  their 
circuits,  which  are  the  historical  origin  of  the  c'ircuits 
Circuits  of  of  the  Judges  of  Assize  in  the  present  day. 
judges.  Sometimes,  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  reign, 

one  or  two  go  over  the  whole  country ;  sometimes  six 
circuits  are  made,  each  managed  by  three  judges ;  some- 
times four  circuits  of  four,  or  two  circuits  of  five  or  more. 
The  chief  epochs  of  this  development  are  these  :  the  year 
1166,  when  the  Assize  of  Clarendon  was  published  ;  the 
year  11 76,  when  six  circuits  of  three  justices  did  the 
work,  under  a  revised  form  of  the  Assize  of  Clarendon, 
issued  at  Northampton;  and  the  year  1179,  when  Henry 
reformed  the  central  as  well  as  the  provincial  tribunals. 

Of  the  effects  of  this  system  one,  the  abatement  of 
the  power  of  the  feudal  courts  of  justice  by  forcing  them 
Training  of     Under   royal    jurisdiction,    has   been    noticed 

the  people         ^^        A  \  ^  ■^v-'-» 

in  self-go-  already.  A  second  was  the  training  of  the 
vernment.  people  generally,  through  the  use  of  juries 
which  were  employed  both  for  legal  and  fiscal  business ; 
they  thus  learned  to  manage  their  own  affairs  and  to  keep 
up  an  intelligent  interest  in  legislation  and  political  busi- 
ness. A  third-was,  to  limit  the  power  of  the  sheriffs,  who 
being  the  sole  royal  representatives  in  the  shires,  judicial, 
militar>^  and  fiscal,  had  great  chances  of  exercising  irre- 
sponsible tyranny,  of  which  the  books  of  the  time  contain 
many  complaints.  Besides  the  visitations  of  the  judges 
Henry  from  time  to  time  used  still  stronger  measures 
of  remedy  or  precaution  against  the  oppressions  of  the 
sherifis.     In  1170  he  turned  them  all  out  of  office,  and 


83 


4- 


J. 


held  a  very  strict  inquir>'  into  the  amount  of  money  they 
had  received,  filling  up  their  places  with  servants  and 
officers  of  his  own  court,  by  whose  action  the  local 
government  would  be  placed  in  more  direct  relation  to 
the  central. 

Nor  were  these  labours  solely  directed  to  the  reform 
of  provincial  jurisdiction.  Henry  II.  reformed  also  the 
supreme  court  of  justice,  which  was  supposed  central 
to  emanate  from  !iis  own  person  and  house-  judicature. 
hold,  and  established  a  distinct  staff  of  well-instructed 
lawyers  to  hear  the  suits  that  were  sent  up  for  his  royal 
decision.  These  men  he  found  it  hard  work  to  manage, 
and  once  in  1178  he  swept  them  all  away  as  summarily 
as  he  had  done  the  sheriffs  in  1170.  Sometimes  he  em- 
ployed clerks,  sometimes  knights,  sometimes  prelates, 
in  the  office  of  judge,  with  unequal  success,  but  with  a 
never-faltering  purpose  of  securing  easy  justice. 

In  the  same  way  he  varied  the  taxes,  from  year  to 
year,  not  allowing  the  same  interest  to  be  oppressed  with 
continual  imposts,  but  taking  now  a  tallage  Vanety  in 
from  the  towns,  now  a  scutage  or  an  aid  from  taxation. 
the  landowners  or  knightly  body  ;  and  on  the  occasion 
of  the  Crusade,  in  11 84  and  11 88,  calling  for  a  contribu- 
tion from  personal  property,  a  fixed  proportion  or  a  tithe 
of  goods  for  the  war  against  Saladin. 

In  order  finally  to  secure  the  defence  of  the  country 
and  to  have  a  force  on  which  he  could  depend  for  the 
maintenance  of  peace  and  order,  he  armed  the  unitary 
whole  free  population,  or  ordered  them  to  pro-  system, 
vide  arms,  according  to  a  fixed  scale,  proportioned  to 
their  substance.  Thus  he  restored  the  ancient  Anglo- 
Saxon  militia  system,  and  supplied  the  requisite  counter- 
balance to  the  military  power  of  the  great  feudatories, 
which,  notwithstanding  the  temptation  to  avoid  service 
by  payment   of  scutage,   they   were   still  able   and   too 


c  a 


i 


84 


The  Early  Plantagenets. 


A.D.   I  J  70. 


willing  to  maintain.  In  all  these  measures  we  may  trace 
one  main  object,  the  strengthening  of  the  royal  power, 
and  one  main  means  or  directing  principle,  the  doing 
so  by  increasing  the  safety  and  security  of  the  people. 
Whatever  was  done  to  help  the  people  served  to  reduce 
the  power  of  the  great  feudal  baronage  ;  to  disarm  their 
forces,  to  abolish  their  jurisdictions,  to  diminish  their 
chances  of  tyranny.  Now  all  this  could  not  but  make 
Henry  very  much  disliked  by  the  great  nobles.  The 
people  of  course  were  slow  to  see  the  benefit  of  the  re- 
forms, but  the  barons  were  quick  enough  at  detecting 
the  measures  taken  to  humiliate  and  reduce  them  ;  so, 
before  Henry  gained  the  affection  of  the  people,  he  had 
to  encounter  the  hostility  of  the  barons. 

This  hostility  had  been  growing  for  a  long  time, 
awaiting  the  opportunity  of  breaking  out  into  open 
Coronation  revolt.  Such  an  opportunity  the  3hock  which 
of  the  heir,  followed  the  death  of  Becket  gave  it ;  and  the 
very  same  measure  taken  by  Henry,  which 
in  its  results  caused  the  death  of  Becket,  gave  a  head 
and  a  direction,  nominally  at  least,  to  the  outbreak. 
This  measure  was  the  coronation  of  the  boy  Henry  in 
1 1 70.  The  idea  of  having  the  heir-apparent  crowned 
in  his  father's  lifetime  was  not  familiar  to  the  English 
or  Normans  ;  the  royal  succession  still  retained  so  much 
of  the  elective  character  that  it  would  perhaps  have 
been  regarded  as  an  unconstitutional  measure,  thus 
violently  and  without  option  to  determine  the  succession 
irrevocably  before  the  vacancy  occurred.  Much  of  the 
Forei-n  interest  of  the  reigns  of  William  Rufus  and 

custom  of  Henry  I.  turns  upon  this  question.  William 
fhe'Si^?  ^he  Conqueror  and  William  Rufus  both  left  the 
sor  to  the  succession  undetermined ;  hence  arose  the  re- 
bellions  of  the  reign  of  the  Red  King  and  the 
early  struggles  of  Henry  I.     The  measures  by  which  he 


^1 


A.D.  II 70.       Henry  II.  and  his  Sons. 


85 


had  done  everything  in  his  power  to  secure  and  settle  it 
had  ended  in  the  anarchy  under  Stephen.  But  in  France 
and  Germany  this  experiment,  now  tried  for  securing  the 
hereditary  succession,  was  familiar  ;  almost  every  one  of 
the  kings  who  followed  Hugh  Capet  had  had  his  son 
crowned  m  his  lifetime  ;  and  in  Germany  since  the  very 
beginning  of  the  Karolingian  empire  such  cases  had  been 
frequent.  Frederick  Barbarossa  at  this  very  moment 
was  working  for  the  succession  of  his  own  son  ;  and  the 
introduction  of  a  second  or  inchoate  partner  in  sovereignty, 
under  the  name  of  King  of  the  Romans,  became  later  on 
a  part  of  the  ordinary  machinery  of  the  empire.  It  is 
possible  that  Henry  II.  had  this  object  solely  and  simply 
in  view  ;  but  another  theory  is  conceivable. 

Henry  well  knew  by  what  very  discordant  nationali- 
ties his   states  were  peopled  ;   and   he  entertained   the 
idea   of  dividing   his   dominions   among   his     Henry's 
sons  at  his  death.     To  Richard,  the   second     P^l't'cal 

'  object  in 

son,  as  his  mother's  heir,  Aquitaine  and  Poic-  this. 
tou  were  already  given  ;  for  Geoffrey  he  had  obtained 
the  succession  to  the  duchy  of  Brittany,  and  he  was 
thinking  of  Ireland  to  be  conquered  for  a  kingdom  for 
John.  Henry,  the  eldest  son,  would  of  course  have 
his  father's  inheritance,  England,  Normandy,  and  Anjou. 
Such  a  division  the  king  actually  made,  when  in  the 
autumn  of  1170  he  believed  himself  to  be  at  the  point  of 
death ;  and  he  brought  up  his  sons  among  the  people  they 
were  to  rule,  Henry  among  the  Normans,  Richard  among 
the  Poictevins.  It  would  be  still  a  question  whether  the 
elder  brother  should  govern  the  family  estates,  as  had 
been  the  case  in  the  early  Karolingian  empire,  his 
brethren  owning  his  feudal  superiority;  or  whether  each 
should  possess  his  provinces  in  sovereignty  subject  only 
to  the  already  existing  feudal  claims. 

However,  when  Henry  began,  as  early  as    11 60,   to 


86 


The  Early  Plantagcnett 


A.D.  1171. 


Henry 

applies  to 
the  Pope  on 
Becket  s 
death. 


broach  the  subject  of  his  son's  coronation  he  was  only 
twenty-seven  years  old,  and  probably  thought  more  of 
securing  the  allegiance  and  attachment  of  the  English 
for  the  child,  than  of  the  chances  which  might  follow  his 
own  death;  and  later  on  we  find  him  anxious  to  abridge 
the  tedious  parts  of  the  royal  duties  by  sharing  them  with 
the  heir,  although  he  never  would  part  with  one  iota  of 
the  substance  of  power.  Hence,  then,  the  coronation  of 
Henry  the  younger  in  11 70,  the  anger  of  Lewis  VU.  be- 
cause his  daughter  was  not  also  crowned,  and  the  quarrel 
among  the  bishops  which  caused  Becket's  death. 

Henry — for  we  must  now  return  to  the  direct  string  of 
the  story — was  momentarily  paralysed  at  the  news  of  the 
martyrdom.  He  saw  how  the  blame  was  sure 
to  fall  upon  him,  and  how  all  his  enemies 
would  sooner  or  later  take  the  opportunity  to 
overwhelm  him.  Immediately,  therefore,  he 
sent  envoys  to  Rome  to  promise  any  terms  whatever 
for  acquittal  or  absolution.  Whilst  this  negotiation  was 
pending,  knowing  that  the  legates,  for  whom  Lewis, 
before  the  death  of  Becket,  had  applied,  were  on  their 
way  to  Normandy,  and  would  not  scruple  to  exert  the 
utmost  of  their  power  against  him,  he  organised  an  expe- 
Expediiion  <^ition  to  Ireland,  which  for  the  last  sixteen 
years  had  been  his  by  papal  grant,  and  for 
the  last  four  had  been  undergoing  the  process 
of  conquest  in  the  hands  of  Richard  de  Clare,  surnamed 
Strongbow.  In  Ireland  he  stayed  from  the  autumn  of 
1 171  to  the  Easter  of  1172,  receiving  the  submission  of 
kings  and  bishops,  and  really  keeping  out  of  the  way  of 
the  hostile  legates  :  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  friendly 
legates  who  were  coming  to  absolve  him. 

Now,  no  doubt  it  appears  strange  that  the  Court  of 
Rome  should  at  this  same  moment  be  pouring  out  both 
sweet  water  and  bitter  ;  that  the  supreme  judge  on  earth 


to  Ireland, 
1171 


1 


A.D.  1 1 72.         Henry  II.  and  his  Sons. 


87 


4 


should  send  forth  a  legation  to  put  Henry's  dominions 
under  interdict  for  one  act  and  directly  after  send  another 
to  absolve  him  for  what  seems  a  more  heinous  characterof 
one.  It  must,  however,  be  remembered  that  theCounof 
in  this  the  papal  court  was  rather  acting  as  a 
great  tribunal  of  international  arbitration  than  as  the 
council  of  a  Christian  bishop.  The  Court  of  Rome  was 
a  great  legal  machine,  the  disadvantages  of  which  are 
manifest  at  first  sight,  but  the  benefit  of  which  in  a 
warlike  age  can  scarcely  be  overrated,  although  less 
obvious  at  a  glance.  A  very  severe  judgment  may  per- 
haps be  allowable,  as  to  the  assumptions  and  arrogance 
and  unrighteousness  of  the  papacy  in  taking  the  office 
of  international  arbitration ;  but  judged  by  its  results  it 
was  for  the  time  a  great  public  benefit,  for  it  stopped  and 
hindered  the  constant  appeals  to  war.  Thus  viewed  the 
Court  of  Rome  was  as  open  for  suitors  as  any  simple 
court  of  justice:  an  applicant  who  wanted  legal  redress 
applied  for  a  commission  of  inquiry  or  a  legation.  In 
so  doing  he  brought  the  usual  means  to  bear  on  the 
papal  officials,  who  no  doubt  found  it  to  their  interest 
to  keep  their  minds  always  open,  to  hear  both  sides,  and 
to  keep  their  purses  also  open  to  receive  the  contribu- 
tions of  all  sides  in  each  suit,  and  thus  maintain  the 
wealth  and  power  of  the  court  itself.  It  is  not  to  be 
denied  that,  however  arrived  at,  the  decisions  ultimately 
given  were  in  most  cases  fair  and  just. 

Henry,  then,  on  this  occasion  eluded  one  legation  and 
welcomed  another.     In  1172  he  met  the  friendly  cardi- 
nals  at  Avranches,  took  all  the   oaths  they     Henrys 
proposed,     renounced    the    Constitutions    of    Ij^^'abSu- 
Clarendon,    purged    himself   of  the   guilt   of    tion,  1172. 
Becket's  death,  declared  his  adherence  to  Alexander  III., 
as  Catholic  Pope,  in  refutation  of  the  statement  that  he 
had  acknowledged  the  anti-Pope,  and  received  full  abso- 


88 

lution. 


T/ie  Early  Plantagc7iets. 


A.D.   1 1 73. 


A.  I).  1 1  -ji.        Henry  II.  and  his  Sons. 


&g 


Second 
coronation 
of  the  heir. 


He  then,  by  way  of  general  pacification,  had 
his  son  re-crowned  and  his  wife  crowned  with 
him,  and  went  down  to  the  South  of  France 
to  make  a  lasting  peace  with  the  Count  of 
Toulouse,  and  to  bargain  for  the  marriage  of  John  with 
the  heiress  of  the  county  of  Maurienne  and  Savoy. 

The  storm  seemed  to  have  blown  over;  unfortunately 
the  lull  preceded  the  great  outbreak.  Strange  to  say,  the 
Quarreler  immediate  occasion  for  the  strife  was  the 
tje  two  little  boy  John,  the  five-vear-old  bridegroom. 

rleniys.  *  n    1  •  .  ' 

All  his   great  enemies    Henry  had  silenced  ; 
Lewis  had  got  his  daughter  crowned,  the  Pope  was  paci- 
fied, the  barons  were  secured  by  the  strength  of  the  home 
government,  the  Scots  were  humble  and  obliging,  all  the 
sons  were  friends.     The  little  child  who  in  the  end  broke 
his  heart  was  already  a  stumbling-block.     The  Count  of 
Maurienne  naturally  asked  what  provision  was  to  be  made 
by  Henry  for  his  son's  marriage.      Henry  found  himself 
obliged  to  ask  his  elder  sons  to  give  up  for  their  brother 
some  few  castles   out  of  their  promised  shares  of  his 
dominions.     The  eldest  son  refused  ;  he  would  give  up 
nothing;  he  had  got  nothing  by  being  crowned,  he  was 
not  trusted  to  go  about  alone;  let  the  king  give  him  some 
real  power,  England  or  Normandy,  then  he  might  have 
something  that  he  could  give  up.      The  ill-conditioned 
lad   nursed  his  grievance,   and,  early  in  the  spring   of 
1 1 73,  fled  from  his  fathers  court  and  threw  himself  into 
the  arms  of  Lewis.     Queen  Eleanor  too,  whose  influence 
with  her  husband  was  lessened  by  her  misguidance  of 
her  children,  and  by  the  evil  habits  which  Henry  himself 
had  contracted  during  the  Becket  quarrel,  used  all  her 
influence   to   increase   the   breach  in   her  family.     She 
intrigued   with   her  first   husband   against    her   second, 
and  brought  even   Richard  into   the  list  of  his   father's 
enemies. 


''/ 


1/ 


1 


Thus,  then,  early  in  1 1 73  a  head  was  provided  for  a 
great  confederation  of  French  lords  and  English  barons, 
actively  aided  by  Lewis  ot   p>ance,  Philip  of    f^.^^^^ 
Flanders,  the  Counts  of  Champagne  and  the     league 
King  of  Scots,  William  the    Lion,  who   had     Henry, 
succeeded  Malcolm  IV.  in  1165.    The  younger     "^3- 
Henry,    liberal   in   promises,    proposed   to   reward    with 
vast    English    estates    the   men    who   were    to   help  in 
renewing  the  glories  of  the   Conquest.     And  the  great 
English  earls,  Chester,  Leicester,  and  Norfolk,  were  bent 
on  reviving  the  feudal  influence  which  Henry's  reforms 
had  so  weakened.     These  earls  were  mighty  men  on  both 
sides  of  the  Channel:  the  Norman  quarrel  could  be  fought 
in  England  as  well  as  in  Normandy,  Anjou,  and  Poictou. 
Measures  were  contrived  at  Paris  for  a  universal  rising. 
And  the  success  of  the  design   seemed  at  first  almost 
certain.     Henry  had  a  large  force  of  Brabangon  merce- 
naries about  him,  but  scarcely  any  other  force  on  which 
he  could  depend  at  all. 

The  war  began  by  a  Flemish  invasion  of  Normandy : 
then  the  Earl  of  Chester  raised  Brittany  against  the  king ; 
then  the  Poictevins  rose  in  arms.  From  France 
the  torch  was  handed  to  England.  William  the 
Lion,  with  a  half-barbarian  army,  began  a  devastating 
march  southward ;  the  Earl  of  Leicester  landed  a  great 
force  of  Flemings  in  Norfolk ;  the  Earl  Ferrers  of  Derby 
fortified  his  castles  in  the  midland  counties;  old  Hugh 
Bigot  of  Norfolk,  who  had  sworn  the  disinheritance  of 
Matilda  in  1135,  garrisoned  his  castles — all  England  was 
in  an  uproar.  The  old  justiciar,  the  king's  lieutenant, 
Richard  de  Lucy,  was  bewildered;  and  the  great  Bishop 
of  Durham,  Hugh  de  Puiset,  King  Stephen's  nephew, 
began  to  play  a  double  game,  negotiating  with  the  Scots, 
and  allowing  the  landing  of  Flemish  mercenaries,  to  be 
used  at  discretion. 


War  begins. 


90 


The  Early  Planiagencfs: 


I 


A.D.  1 1  73. 


In  France. 


Two  influences,  however,  turned  the  scale  against  this 
overwhelming  preponderance  of  treachery  and  force — 
Henry's  Henry's  wonderful  energy,  which  his  contem- 

success.  poraries  called  supernatural  good  luck,   and 

the  faithfulness  of  the  English  people,  who  now,  when 
the  crucial  test  was  applied  to  them,  amply  repaid  the 
many  years  of  culture  spent  upon  them.  Henry  had 
been  taken  by  surprise  by  the  general  onset ;  and,  un- 
willing to  believe  in  the  ingratitude  of  his  boys,  he  at 
first  was  slow  to  move  against  them  ;  but  he  showed  ex- 
traordinary promptness  when  he  saw  the  state  of  affairs 
and  had  made  up  his  mind  how  to  act.  Having  put 
Lewis  VII.  to  ignominious  flight  at  Conches,  he  rushed 
down  upon  Dol,  in  Brittany,  where  he  captured  the  Earl 
of  Chester  and  the  chief  Breton  and  Angevin 
rebels;  and  during  the  autumn  of  1 173,  before 
the  worst  news  from  England  arrived,  he  had  captured 
one  after  the  other  the  nests  of  rebellion  in  Maine.  At 
Christmas  he  concluded  a  three  months' truce  with  Lewis 
and  undertook  the  pacification  of  Poictou,  which  em- 
ployed him  until  the  next  summer,  fretting  and  chafing 
against  the  detention  which  kept  him  away  from  Eng- 
land. 

In  England  matters  had  gone  on  more  slowly,  owing 
to  the  unprepared  state  of  the  ministry  and  the  general 
War  in  feeling  of  apprehension  and  mistrust.    There, 

Engand.  howcver,  Henry  had  some  men  on  whom  he 
could  depend :  Richard  de  Lucy  the  justiciar  ;  Ranulf 
Glanvill,  the  great  lawyer,  who  was  rising  into  the  first 
rank  as  a  minister;  Reginald  Earl  of  Cornwall,  the  king's 
uncle  ;  the  Earl  of  Arundel,  husband  of  Queen  Adeliza, 
widow  of  Henry  I.,  and  others  connected  with  the  royal 
house.  These  men  had  insufficient  forces  at  their  dis- 
posal, and  were  at  first  unable  to  decide  whether  the 
Scots  in  the  North,  or  the  Earl  of  Leicester  in  the  East, 


A.D. 


1 1 74.        Hairy  II.  and  his  Sons, 


91 


or  the  midland  revolt  under  Earl  Ferrers,  was  the  most 
formidable.  At  last,  having  made  up  their  minds  to 
make  a  truce  with  the  Scots,  they  moved  upon  Norfolk, 
and  defeated  the  earls  in  October,  at  Fornham  St.  Gene- 
vieve. There  they  took  prisoners  the  Earl  of  Leicester 
and  his  wife,  the  great  Lady  Petronilla,  whose  compre- 
hensive soul  embodied  all  the  spite  and  arrogance  and 
vindictiveness  of  the  oligarchy  of  the  Conquest.  She, 
as  heiress  of  Grantmesnil,  had  brought  a  great  inherit- 
ance to  her  husband,  the  degenerate  heir  of  the  faithful 
Beaumonts  ;  for  the  Leicester  Beaumonts  were  the  only 
house  which  since  the  Conquest  had  been  uniformly 
faithful  to  the  Conqueror  and  his  heirs.  This  great 
success  enabled  Henry  to  remain  in  Poictou  during  the 
winter  and  spring  of  1174,  and  allowed  the  ministers  to 
concentrate  their  force  against  the  Scots.  The  people 
rose  against  the  feudal  party,  and  a  brisk  struggle  was 
kept  up  in  the  interior  of  the  country  until  the  summer. 
William  the  Lion  spent  his  time  in  securing  q^^^^^^  of 
the  border  castles,  seeking  his  own  ends,  in-     William  the 

11  J  J  Lion. 

stead  of  pressing  southwards,  and  so   doing 
his  part  to  overturn  Henry's  throne.     At  last,  early  in  July 
1 174,  he  was  surprised  and  taken  prisoner  at  Alnwick  by 
the  host  of  Yorkshire  men  and  the  loyal  barons. 

Just  at  the  same  moment   Henry  had  crossed  from 
Normandy  with  his  Braban^ons,  and  made  a  pilgrimage 
to  Becket's  grave.     His  triumph  was  now  regarded  as  a 
token  of  Divine  forgiveness.     He  marched  at     Henry's 
once  into  Norfolk,  where  he  received  the  sub-     England" 
mission  of  the  Bigots  and  the  Mowbrays,  the     1^74- 
latter  of  whom  had  been  overcome  by  the  kings  natural 
son,  Geoffrey,  now  bishop  elect  of  Lincoln,  and  after- 
wards so   well  known  as  Archbishop  of  York.     All  his 
foes  were  now  at  his  feet ;  the  King  of  Scots  and  the  two 
great  earls  were  prisoners ;  the  rest  entirely  humiliated. 


92 


The  Early  Plantagetiets. 


f 


A.D.   1 175. 


In  less  than  a  month  from  his  landing  he  was  able  to  go 
back  to  Normandy. 

The  French  war  came  to  an  end  on  the  collapse  of 
End  of  the  the  English  rebellion,  and  in  the  month  of 
^^'■-  September   all    Henry's   dominions    were    at 

rest,  his  children  reconciled,  even  the    King  of  France 
admitted  to  peace. 

And  now  we  have   true  evidence  of  Henry's   real 
greatness  in  policy  and  spirit,  notwithstanding  his  pro- 
vocations and  the  changed  strain  of  his  character  and 
temper.     He  shed  no  blood,  he  took   no   ransoms,  he 
condemned  to  destitution  not  one  of  the  leaders  of  the 
rebellion  ;   he  laid  his  hands  for  a  few  years  on  their 
estates,  but   even   these  were   shortly  restored,  and   no 
man  was  disinherited  by  way  of  punishment.     But  he 
pulled  down  their  castles.     The  nests  of  feudal  tyranny 
and  insubordination  he  not  merely  dismantled,  but   in 
some  cases   destroyed   so  utterly  as  to  leave   not   one 
stone   upon   another,  that  they  might  be  no  more  the 
beginning  or  the  temptation  to  such  a  design.     Against 
the  Scots  his  hand  was  very  heavy;  he  insisted  on  abject 
submission.     Before  he  would  release  the  king  from  his 
Submission      Captivity  he  insisted  that  he  should  do  ho- 
of ^Scotland,     mage,   acknowledging  the  supremacy  of  his 
crown  over  the   Scottish  crown,  and  of  the 
English  Church  over  the  Scottish.     The  Scottish  barons 
must  become  his  men ;  the  Scottish  bishops  must  declare 
their  obedient  subjection  to  the  English  Church;  and  the 
castles  of  the  Lowlands  must  be  retained  in  the  hands  of 
men  whom  he  should  place  there  with  English  garrisons. 
This  humiliating  negotiation,  concluded  at  Falaise  before 
William's  liberation,  was  confirmed  at  York  in  the  follow- 
ing August.     From  this  time,  until  Richard  I.  sold  back 
to  William  the  Lion  the  rights  that  he  had  lost,  Scotland 
was  subject  to  the  English  king  as  overlord,  and   her 


%»= 


A.D.  1 175.        Hawy  II.  and  Jiis  Sons. 


93 


king  as  king  was  our  king's  vassal.  The  Church,  how- 
ever, escaped  subjection,  because  the  archbishops  of 
Canterbury  and  York  could  not  agree  which  should  rule 
her,  and  before  their  quarrel  was  ended  the  Pope  stepped 
in  and  declared  the  Scottish  Church  the  immediate  care 
and  peculiar  daughter  of  the  Roman  see.  Besides  this, 
the  half-independent  prince  of  Galloway  was  compelled 
to  acknowledge  himself  a  vassal  of  both  the  kings. 

So  completely  was  the  authority  of  Henry  II.  re- 
established by  the  peace  of  1174,  that  we  are  almost 
tempted  to  underrate  the  importance  of  the     y 

^  *  Importance 

elements  that  had  been  arrayed  against  him.  of  this 
It  was  not,  however,  in  the  want  of  strength  ''^'""^^^• 
and  spirit  that  the  confederation  against  him  failed ;  the 
kings  of  France  and  Scotland,  the  counts  of  Champagne, 
Boulogne,  and  Flanders,  the  earls  of  Chester,  Leicester, 
Norfolk,  and  Derby,  his  own  sons  and  his  own  wife, 
were  united  in  their  hostility.  The  religious  feeling  of 
the  nation,  which  since  the  death  of  Becket  had  to  a  re- 
markable degree  realised  or  rather  exaggerated  his  merits 
as  a  statesman  and  a  churchman,  was  used  as  a  weapon 
against  him.  Every  interest  that  he  had  injured,  or  that 
had  suffered  in  the  process  of  his  reforms,  was  made  to 
take  its  part.  Yet  all  failed.  They  failed  partly,  no  doubt, 
because  they  had  really  no  common  cry,  no  common 
cause.  They  had  many  grievances  and  a  good  oppor- 
tunity ;  but  all  their  several  aims  .were  selfish;  their  plan, 
so  far  as  they  had  one,  destructive  not  constructive;  their 
leaders  unwilling  to  sacrifice  or  risk  anything  of  their 
own,  greedy  to  grasp  what  belonged  of  right  to  the  king, 
the  nation,  or  even  to  their  own  fellows.  They  fought 
one  by  one  against  a  prompt,  clear-headed,  accomplished 
warrior,  and  they  were  beaten  one  by  one ;  not,  how- 
ever, without  a  very  considerable  intermingling  of  what 
is   ordinarily   called   good    fortune   on   the  king's   side. 


94 


TJie  Early  Plantageficts.       a.d.  1176- 


-II 78. 


Henry  II.  and  Jiis  Sons. 


95 


Thus  Henry  in  the  twentieth  year  of  his  reign  was  more 
powerful  by  far  than  when,  at  the  beginning  of  it,  the 
desire  and  darhng  of  the  whole  people,  he  brought  back 
peace  and  light  and  liberty  after  the  evil  days. 

The  general  line  of  policy  which  Henry  had  hitherto 

pursued  he  took  up  almost  at  the  identical  point  at  which 

it  had  been  interrupted  bv  the  rebellion  ;  but 

Henr>'  r        t    i ' 

resumes  instead  of  seekmg  for  John  a  provision  on  the 

his  schemes,  ^o^itinent,  he  determined  to  find  him  a  wife 
and  an  endowment  in  England,  and,  when  he  should  be 
old  enough,  to  make  him  king  of  Ireland.  With  this  idea 
„     .  .  he  arranged  for  him,  in  11 76,  a  marriage  with 

Provision  °  7/7  o 

made  for         Hawisia,  the   daughter   of  William   Earl   of 
"■  Gloucester,  his    cousin  ;    and   the    next  year, 

in  a  great  assembly  at  Oxford,  he  divided  the  still  uncon- 
quered  provinces  of  Ireland  into  great  fiefs,  the  receivers 
of  which  took  the  oath  of  fealty,  not  only  to  himself,  but 
to  John  as  their  future  king.  The  Pope  also  was  can- 
vassed as  to  the  erection  of  Ireland  into  a  kingdom  and 
the  coronation  of  John.  The  same  year  Johanna,  the 
,,     .  kinir's   voungest  daughter,  was  married  with 

Marriaees  &        -  e?  07 

of  the  kings  ver\'  great  pomp  to  the  young  king  William 
aug  ten,.  ^^  Good,  as  he  is  called,  of  Sicily,  a  prince 
who  had  an  unbounded  admiration  for  his  father-in-law, 
and  would  have  settled  the  reversion  of  his  kingdoms 
upon  him  if  Henrv'  had  accepted  the  offer.  Eleanor,  the 
second  daughter,  was  already  married  to  Alfonso,  King 
of  Castille,  who  in  1177  referred  to  the  judgment  of 
Henry  a  great  lawsuit  between  himself  and  his  kinsman 
the  King  of  Navarre.  This  arbitration  not  only  illustrates 
the  estimation  in  which  Henry  after  his  great  victor)'  was 
held  on  the  Continent,  but  shows  us  also  how  he  delibe- 
rated with  his  councillors.  He  held  a  very  great  court  of 
bishops  and  superior  clergy,  of  barons  and  other  tenants- 
in-chief,  on  the  occasion ;  the  arguments  of  the  parties 


were  laid  before  them,  and,.in  conformity  with  their  advice 
asked  and  given,  the  judgment  was  delivered. 

The  two  or  three  years  that  followed  the  rebellion 
were  the  period  of  Henry's  longest  stay  in  England.  He 
came  in  April  1 175,  and  stayed  until  August  visitsto 
1 177;  after  a  year  spent  in  Normandy  and  England. 
Anjou  he  returned  in  11 78,  and  stayed  until  the  end  of 
June  1 180;  after  which,  although  he  paid  several  long 
visits  to  England,  his  absences  were  much  longer.  These 
years  were  periods  of  great  activity  in  political  matters. 
The  number  of  councils  that  he  held,  the  varietv  of 
public  business  that  he  despatched  in  them,  the  scries  of 
changes  intended  to  promote  the  speedy  attainment  of 
justice,  the  unfailing  purpose  which  he  showed  of  fulfil- 
ling the  pledge  which  in  his  early  days  he  had  given  to 
his  people,  all  these  come  out  in  the  simple  details  of  the 
historian  with  remarkable  fulness.  Henry  was  not  at  this 
time,  or  ever  after,  a  happy  man  ;  his  son  Henry,  nomi- 
nallv   reconciled,    was   constantly    intriguing     ,     ■         , 

'  •'  .  Intrigues  of 

against  him  with  his  father-in-law,  Lewis,  and  the  younger 
the  discontented  lords  of  the  foreign  dominion.  ^"'^^' 
He  took  up  the  part  of  an  advocate  of  local  rights  and 
privileges,  and  headed  confederations  against  his  father, 
and  against  his  brother  Richard  as  the  oppressor  of  the 
barons  of  Poictou.  He  complained  that  his  father 
treated  him  meanly,  not  giving  enough  money,  and  jea- 
lously refusing  him  his  share  of  power.  The  father 
treated  him  generously  and  patiently,  but  he  could  not 
trust  him,  and  did  not  pretend  to  do  so. 

Queen  Eleanor,  too,  was  now  imprisoned,  or  seques- 
tered from  her  husband  in  honourable  captivity.     This 
great  lady,  who  deserves  to  be  treated  with     Queen 
more  honour  and  respect  than  she  has  gene-     Eleanor, 
rally  met  with,  had   behaved  very  ill  to  her  husband  in 
the  matter  of  the  rebellion ;  and,  although  he  occasion- 


96 


The  Early  Plantagenets.        a.d.  ii8o. 


A.D.  1 183.         Henry  II.  and  his  Sons, 


97 


ally  indulged  her  with  the  show  of  royal  pomp  and  power, 
he  never  released  her  from  confinement  or  forgave  her. 
She  was  a  very  able  woman,  of  great  tact  and  experience, 
and  still  greater  ambition  ;  a  most  important  adviser 
whilst  she  continued  to  support  her  husband,  a  most  dan- 
gerous enemy  when  in  opposition.  Her  political  intrigues 
in  the  East,  when  she  accompanied  her  first  husband  on 
the  Crusade,  had  made  him  contemptible,  and  that  Lewis 
never  forgave  her.  But  her  second  husband  was  made 
of  sterner  stuff.  He  took  and  kept  the  upper  hand  ;  it 
was  only  after  his  death  that  Eleanor's  real  powers  found 
room  for  play ;  and  had  it  not  been  for  her  governing 
skill  while  Richard  was  in  Palestine,  and  her  influence 
on  the  Continent  during  the  early  years  of  John,  England 
would  have  been  a  prey  to  anarchy,  and  Normandy  lost 
to  the  house  of  Anjou  long  before  it  was. 

The  quarrel  with  his  wife  and  the  mistrust  of  his  chil- 
dren threw  the  king  under  very  evil  influences,  although 
as  a  king  he  tried  hard  to  do  his  duty  ;  and  they  sowed 
the  seed  of  later  difficulties  which  at  last  overwhelmed 
him.  The  internal  history  of  these  years  is  occupied 
with  the  judicial  and  financial  doings  which  have  been 
sketched  in  the  early  pages  of  this  chapter  ;  outside  there 
was  peace,  except  in  Poictou,  where  Richard  was  learn- 
ing the  art  of  war,  winning  his  first  laurels  and  making 
his  worst  and  most  obstinate  enemies. 

In  1 1 80  the  long  strife  and  jealousy  between  Henry 

II.  and  Lewis  VII.  came  to  an  end.     The  weak  and  un- 

^    principled  Kinsr  of  France,  after  resigning  his 

Accessionof     ^  ^  ^     ^  f     ■ 

Philip  II.,  crown  to  his  son  Philip,  a  boy  of  sixteen, 
^*^^'  retired  into  a  convent  and  died.     Philip  in- 

herited all  his  hatred  of  Henr\-,  although  he  was  better 
able  to  appreciate  his  wisdom,  and  showed  in  his  early 
years  a  desire  to  have  him  as  a  political  adviser  and 
instructor.     He  inherited,  too,  all  his  father's  falseness, 


r 


craft,  and  dishonesty,  but  not  his  morbid  conscience  nor' 
his  irresoluteness.  Without  being  so  great  a  coward  as 
his  father,  Philip  was  yet  a  long  way  from  being  a  brave 
man,  and  loses  much  by  his  juxtaposition  with  Richard 
and  even  with  John  in  that  respect.  But  he  was  very 
unscrupulous,  ver>'  pertinacious,  and  in  result  very  suc- 
cessful, outhving  all  his  rivals,  and  leaving  his  king- 
dom immensely  stronger  than  it  was  when  he  succeeded 
to  it.  In  the  domestic  quarrels  of  his  early  years, 
with  his  stepmother  and  the  counts  of  Champagne,  he 
availed  himself  of  the  advice  of  Henry,  which  was  given 
honestly  and  effectually ;  but,  after  Henry's  quarrels  with 
his  sons  began  again,  Philip  saw  his  way  clearly  enough 
to  the  humiliation  of  the  rival  house ;  and  he  took  too 
sure  and  too  fatal  advantage  of  his  opportunity. 

There  is  no  need  to  dwell  on  the  events  of  1181  and 
1182 ;  the  chief  mark  of  the  former  year  is  that  assize  of 
arms  which  has  been  already  mentioned.  In  1182  the 
king  was  a  good  deal  in  Poictou.  England  was  governed 
now,  and  chiefly  for  the  rest  of  the  reign,  by  Ranulf 
Glanvill,  the  chief  justiciar,  who  in  11 80  or  11 79  had 
succeeded  to  Richard  de  Lucy.  The  country  was  quiet ; 
so  quiet,  that  when  the  troubles  began  on  the  Continent 
not  a  hand  or  foot  in  England  stirred  against  the  king. 
English  history  dunng  these  and  the  following  years  is  a 
simple  record  of  steady  growth ;  all  interest,  personal  and 
political,  centres  in  the  king. 

The  year  1 183  begins  with  a  new  phase.  The  young 
king  had  of  late  shown  himself  somewhat  more  dutiful. 
His  father  was  now  in  his  fiftieth  year,  and     c       j 

,  ^         '  Second 

that  was  for  the  kings  of  those  days  a  some-  revolt  of  the 
what  advanced  maturity.  The  heir  seemed  >'°""s^'"8- 
to  have  learned  that  he  might,  as  he  must,  bide  his  time. 
The  arrangement  which  was  to  provide  for  the  continued 
cohesion  of  the  family  estates  was  as  yet  uncompleted. 
M.  H,  H 


98 


The  Early  Plantagcnets.        a.d.  1183. 


A.D.  1 185.        Henry  II.  and  Jiis  Sons. 


99 


Henry  urged  that  the  younger  brothers  should  all   do 
homage  and  swear  fealty  to  the  elder.      Richard  was 
with  some  difficulty  prevailed  on  to  do  this;  but  almost  as 
soon  as  it  was  done  Henr>^  took  advantage  of  the  discon- 
tent of  the  Poictevins,  quarrelled  with  Richard  about  the 
custody  of  a  petty  castle,  and  headed  a  war  party  against 
him.      Their  father,  who  at  first  perhaps  had  intended 
that  Henry  should  be  allowed  to  enforce  his  superiority, 
soon    saw   that    it    was    his    bounden    duty    to    maintain 
the  cause  of  Richard.     Geoffrey  of  Brittany  joined  his 
eldest  brother.     Whilst  Richard  and  his  father  besieged 
Limoges,  Henry  and  Geoffrey  allowed  their  archers  to 
shoot   at  their  father;  they   ill-treated  his   messengers, 
drove  him  to  desperation,  and  became  desperate  them- 
selves.     The  younger  Henry,  after  feigning  reconcilia- 
tions, and   more   than   once   cruelly   and  hypocritically 
deserting    his   father,  tried  to  recruit  his  resources   by 
plundering  the  rich  shrines  of  the  Aquitanian  saints.    The 
age  saw  in  his  fate  speedy  vengeance  for  his  impiety, 
his  own  evil  conscience  found  perhaps  in  his  behaviour 
to  his  father  a  still  greater  burden.     Before  Limoges  was 
His  death,      taken,  the   wretched   man — for  at  eight-and- 
"83.  twenty  he  was  a  boy  no  more — sickened  and 

died  at  Martel,  and  left  no  issue.  He  passed  away  like 
foam  on  the  water,  no  man  regretting  him;  lamented 
only  as  his  father's  enemy,  and  by  that  father  who,  with 
all  his  faults  and  his  mismanagement,  loved  his  sons  far 
more  than  they  deserved. 

The  death  of  the  heir  threw  upon  Richard  the  right, 
so  far  as  it  could  be  regarded  as  a  right,  of  succession; 
Distrust  of  it  reopened  also  the  question  about  the  por- 
Richard.  tjQj^  Qf  Q^jeen  Margaret,  the  castles  of  the 
Vexin  which  Henry  had  so  craftily  got  into  his  hands 
in  consequence  of  the  marriage.  These  castles  he  re- 
fused to  restore  to  the  King  of  France.     Richard's  claim 


1 


to  the  fealty  of  the  barons  he  could  not  allow  to  be 
recognised,  lest  Richard  should  attempt  to  play  against 
him  the  part  which  his  elder  brother  had  played.  He 
wished  also  that  the  Aquitanian  heritage  should  be  made 
over  to  John,  especially  after  the  death  of  Death  of 
Geoffrey  of  Brittany,  which  occurred  in  11 86,  Geoffrey. 
no  right  of  succession  being  allowed  to  the  baby  Arthur, 
born  after  his  father's  death.  Hence  there  were  constant 
feuds  and  difficulties,  mainly,  however,  on  the  French  side 
of  the  Channel,  Philip  fomenting  the  family  discord. 

The  threatening  condition  of  Palestine  long  averted 
open  war.  Henry  was  the  head  of  the  house  of  Anjou, 
from  which  the  Frank  kings  of  Jerusalem,  de-     n,,    , 

„,,,.  -i  ^"^  house 

scended  from  Fulk,  his  grandfather,  drew  their  of  Anjou  at 
origin.  Baldwin  the  Leper,  the  son  of  King  J^'""^^^'^'"- 
Amalric  the  conqueror  of  Egyptian  Babylon,  was  waging 
a  very  unequal  fight  against  Saladin,  Sultan  of  Eg}'pt 
and  Syria.  It  was  a  brilliant  struggle,  but  against  fearful 
odds.  A  prey  to  a  sickness  which  physically  disabled 
him,  weakened  by  the  divisions  of  a  court  speculating 
already  on  his  death  and  the  break-up  of  the  kingdom ; 
at  the  head  of  an  aristocratic  body  which  had  in  a  single 
century  learned  all  the  vices  and  none  of  the  virtues  of 
the  East ;  with  the  knightly  orders  quarrelling  with  one 
another ;  with  the  barons  of  the  kingdom  playing  the  part 
of  traitors,  the  princes  of  the  confederation  leaguing  with 
Saladin,  and  the  ablest  of  his  allies  utterly  unfettered  by 
the  sense  of  honour; — Baldwin  in  despair  sent  the  keys 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  to  Henry  of  England,  as  his  kins- 
man, and  prayed  him  to  come  to  the  rescue.  Then  he 
died  and  left  the  kingdom  first  to  his  baby  nephew,  then 
to  his  sister  Sibylla  and  Guy  of  Lusignan  her  husband. 
The  mission  of  the  patriarch  Heraclius,  in  1185,  was 
received  with  little  enthusiasm  in  the  West.  Some  two 
or  three  great  English  barons,  Hugh  of  Beauchamp  and 


H  2 


100 


The  Early  Plantageiicts.     a.d.  i  187-8. 


A.D.  1 189.         Henry  11.  and  his  Sons. 


lOI 


Roger  Mowbray,  went ;  but  the  English  Church  and  baron- 
age, assembled  at  the  Council  of  Clerkenwell,  told  the  king 
that  it  was  his  first  duty  to  stay  at  home  and  keep  the 
Jerusalem  promises  made  in  his  coronation  oath.  He 
taken.  himself  could  do  no  more  than  offer  contribu- 

tions in  money.  The  patriarch  went  off  in  disgust;  and 
before  anything  was  really  done  Saladin  had  captured  the 
king,  the  True  Cross,  and  the  holy  city. 

This  news,  which  reached  England  in  October  or 
November  1 187,  silenced  for  a  moment  the  petty  quar- 
rels of  the  West.  But  it  was  for  a  moment  only.  At 
the  first  shock  of  the  tidings  Henr>'  and  Philip  laid 
aside  their  grievances.  Richard  was  the  first  to  take 
the  cross.  The  popes  one  after  another  in  quick  suc- 
The  Third  cession  issucd  impassioned  adjurations  that 
Crusade.  peace  should  be  made,  and  that  one  great 
Catholic  Crusade  should  rescue  imperilled  Christendom. 
The  Emperor  himself,  the  lord  of  the  Western  world, 
the  great  Frederick,  declared  that  he  would  go  to  Pales- 
tine with  all  the  German  chivalr)\  In  England  and 
France  went  out  a  decree  that  all  men  who  had  anything 
should  pay  a  tenth  towards  the  Crusade.  The  Saladin 
tithe  was  enacted  by  a  great  assembly  of  all  England, 
at  Geddington,  near  Northampton,  and  it  was  the  first 
case  in  which  Englishmen  ever  paid  a  general  tax  on  all 
their  goods  and  chattels.  This  was  done  in  Februar>' 
1 1 88.  The  money  was  hastily  collected.  It  was  yet 
uncertain  whether  the  king  would  go  himself  or  send 
Richard  or  John  or  both.  But  the  moment  of  peace 
-was  over,  and  for  Henry  at  least  the  end  was  coming. 

The  last  storm  arose  in  the  South ;  the  quarrel  be- 
„       ,  ,         tween   Richard  and  the  Count  of  Toulouse, 

Henrys  last  •       i       / 

quarrel,  beginning  about  a  little  matter,  drew  m  both 

"^^"  Henry  and  Philip.  Philip  complained  to  Henry 

of  the  misrule  of  his  son.     Henry  disowned  the  measures 


I 


of  Richard ;  and  Philip  invaded  Berry.  At  first  Richard 
acted  in  concert  with  his  father,  drove  Philip  out  of  Berry, 
and  recovered  the  places  that  he  had  taken.  Henry  was 
in  England  at  the  time  of  the  outbreak.  He  sent  over 
first  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  then  John,  and  at  last, 
in  July  1 188,  left  his  kingdom  never  to  return.  The  name 
of  the  great  king  was,  at  first,  potent  enough.  Philip  sued 
for  peace ;  the  Counts  of  Champagne  insisted  that  there 
should  be  peace  until  the  Crusade  was  over.  Once  and 
again  the  two  kings  met,  and  failed  to  come  to  a  recon- 
ciliation. In  November  Richard  began  to  waver  :  he  did 
homage  to  Philip  for  all  the  French  provinces,  Richard 
saving,  however,  his  fealty  to  his  father.  A  J^'"**  Philip. 
truce  was  made,  and  the  Pope  sent  a  legate  to  turn  the 
truce  into  a  peace.  But  when  the  time  of  truce  expired 
Richard  had  gone  over  to  Philip,  and  actually  joined  in 
the  invasion  of  his  father's  territories.  Philip  insisted 
that  Richard  should  be  acknowledged  heir :  Henry  hesi- 
tated ;  Richard  suspected  that  John  was  to  supplant  him  : 
John  was  bribed  to  take  part  with  his  father's  enemies. 
Henry,  unable  to  believe  the  monstrous  conspiracy,  for 
the  first  time  in  his  life  showed  want  of  resolution ;  he 
did  not  draw  his  forces  to  a  head,  but  deliberated  and 
negotiated  whilst  Richard  and  Philip  were  acting.  His 
health  was  failing,  and  his  spirits  had  failed  already. 

So  the  spring  of  1189  went  on,  Henry  staying  mostly 
at  Saumur,  in  Anjou,  or  at  Chinon ;  and  Philip  watching 
for  his  opportunity.  At  length,  on  May  28,  after  a  con- 
ference at  la  Fertd  Bernard,  in  which  Henry,  as  it  was 
said,  bribed  the  papal  legate  to  take  his  side,  Philip  finally 
broke  into  war;  carried  almost  by  surprise  the  chief 
castles  of  Maine,  and  with  a  good  fortune  which  he  could 
scarcely  realise  captured  the  city  of  le  Mans  capture  of 
itself,  which  Henr>',  although  at  the  head  of  '^  ^^^"^• 
a  stout  force  of  knights,  refused  to  defend.     Wretchedly 


102 


The  Early  Plantagenets.        a.d.  1189. 


A.D.  1 1 89.         Henry  II.  a? id  his  Sons. 


103 


ill  and  broken  in  spirit,  he  rode  for  his  life  from  le 
Mans,  to  escape  from  the  hands  of  his  son  and  of 
Philip.  This  was  on  June  12.  Le  Mans  was  Henry's 
birthplace;  there  his  father  was  buried,  and  he  had 
loved  the  place  very  much;  it  was  also  a  very  strong 
place,  and  when  it  was  taken  he  knew  that  sooner  or 
later  Tours  must  go  too.  But  even  before  Tours  was 
taken  all  was  lost,  for  Henry  seemed  to  think  that  he 
had  nothing  left  to  live  or  fight  for.  Scarcely  able  to 
Henry's  sit  on   liorscback,  he    rode  all  day   from   le 

flight.  Mans,  and  rested  at  night  at  la  Frenaye,  on 

the  way  to  Normandy,  where  the  chief  part  of  his  force 
and  all  his  strength  lay.  Geoffrey,  his  natural  son  and 
chancellor,  afterwards  Archbishop  of  York,  was  with  him, 
and  the  poor  father  clung  to  him  in  his  despair.  To  him, 
through  his  friend  Giraldus  Cambrensis,  we  owe  the  story 
of  these  sad  days. 

Henry  was  worn  out  with  illness  and  fatigue — he 
would,  he  said,  lie  down  and  die :  at  night  he  would  not 
His  last  be  undressed  ;  Geoffrey  threw  his  cloak  on  him 

and  watched  by  his  side.    In  the  morning  the 


day 


king  declared  that  he  could  not  leave  Anjou;  Geoffrey 
was  to  go  on  to  Alenqon  with  the  troops.  He  would 
return  to  Chinon.  Geoffrey  was  not  allowed  to  depart  until 
the  Steward  of  Normandy  had  sworn  that,  should  the 
king  die,  he  would  surrender  the  castles  only  to  John; 
for  Henry  did  not  yet  know  the  treachery  of  his  fa- 
vourite child.  All  was  done  as  he  bade;  Geoffrey  se- 
cured Alencon  and  then  returned  to  look  for  his  father ; 
he  found  him  at  a  place  called  Savigny,  and  took  him 
to  Chinon,  as  he  wished.  For  a  fortnight  Philip  pur- 
sued his  conquests  unimpeded.  Henry  moved  again  to 
Saumur,  and  was  there  visited  by  the  Counts  of  Cham- 
pagne ;  but  he  had  neither  energy,  nor  apparently  even 
the  will,  to  strike  a  blow  or  to  come  to  a  decision  that 
would  ensure  peace.    A  conference  was  fixed  for  June 


.1 


-r 


30,  at  Azai,  but  when  the  day  came  Henry  was  too  ill  to 
attend ;  and  Philip  and  Richard  went  off  loudly  exclaim- 
ing that  it  was  a  false  excuse.  The  same  day  Philip 
came  to  Tours.  Again  the  princes  interfered ;  but  Philip 
would  not  listen.  On  July  3  he  took  the  city.  Then 
Henry,  dying  as  he  was,  made  his  last  effort ;  he  was 
carried  from  Saumur  to  Azai,  mounted  there  on  horse- 
back, and  met  his  two  foes  on  the  plain  of  Colombieres. 

There,  after  two  attempts  to  converse,  broken  by  a 
terrible  thunderstorm,  Henry,  held  up  on  horseback  by 
his  servants,  accepted  Philip's  terms  and  submitted, 
surrendering  all  that  he  was  asked  to  surrender.  One 
thing  he  asked  for,  the  list  of  the  conspirators,  to  whom 
he  was  obliged  to  promise  forgiveness.  The  list  was  given 
him ;  and  with  reluctance  and  muttered  reproaches,  per- 
haps curses  also,  he  gave  Richard  the  kiss  of  peace. 
He  went  back  to  Azai,  still  transacting  some  little  busi- 
ness on  the  way,  for  the  monks  of  Canterbury,  who  had 
quarrelled  with  their  archbishop,  forced  themselves  into 
his  presence  and  provoked  some  sharp  words  of  reproof 
even  then.  Then  he  opened  the  list  of  rebels,  and  the 
first  name  that  he  saw  was  John's.  And  that  broke  his 
heart ;  he  turned  his  face  to  the  wall  and  said,  '  I  have 
nothing  left  to  care  for ;  let  all  things  go  their  way.' 

From  that  blow  he  never  rallied.  He  was  carried  in  a 
litter  to  Chinon,  chafing  against  the  shame  of  defeat  and 
the  mortification  of  his  love.  Geoffrey  sat  by  him  fan- 
ning him  in  the  sultry  air  and  driving  away  the  flies 
that  teased  him.  To  him  Henry  confided  his  last  wishes. 
He  told  him  that  he  was  to  be  Archbishop  of  York,  and 
gave  him  his  ring,  with  the  seal  of  the  panther,  to  give 
to  the  King  of  Castille ;  then  he  ordered  them  to  take 
him  up,  on  his  bed,  and  lay  him  before  the  Death  of 
altar  of  the  castle  chapel;  there  he  received  Henry  11. 
the  last  sacraments  and  died,  two  days  after  the  meeting 
at  Colombieres. 


I04 


The  Early  Plantagenets.        a.d.  1189. 


A.D.  1 1 89. 


RicJiard  Cceur  de  Lion, 


105 


There  is  hardly  in  all  English  history  a  more  striking 
catastrophe  or  a  scene  in  itself  more  simply  touching.  So 
much  suffering,  so  great  a  fall,  from  such  grandeur  to 
such  humiliation,  such  bitter  sorrow,  the  loss  of  every- 
thing worth  having,  power  and  peace  and  his  children's 
love,  may  have  stirred  in  him  in  that  last  moment  the 
thought  of  forgiveness.  But  Richard  saw  him  alive  no 
more ;  and  when  at  the  funeral,  at  Font  Evraud,  he  met 
the  bier  on  which  his  father's  body  lay,  blood  flowed 
forthwith  from  the  nostrils  of  the  dead  king,  as  if  his 
spirit  were  indignant  at  his  coming. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


RICHARD    CCEUR   DE    LION. 


Character  of  the  reign — Richard's  first  visit  to  England— His  cha- 
racter -The  Cnisade — Fall  of  Longchamjj — Richard's  second 
visit — His  struggle  with  Philip— His  death. 

The  historical  interest  of  the  reign  of  Richard  I.  is  of 
two  sorts  :  there  is  abundance  of  personal  adventure 
and  incident,  and  there  is  a  certain  quantity  of  legal  and 
constitutional  material  which  it  is  easier  to  interweave 
into  a  general  disquisition  on  such  subjects  than  to 
invest  with  a  unity  and  plot  of  its  own.  But  there  is 
no  great  national  change,  no  very  pronounced  develop- 
ment, no  crisis  of  stirring  interest  or  great  permanent  im- 
port. The  strong  system  of  government  introduced  by 
Henry  II.  was  gaining  still  greater  strength  and  consis- 
tency; the  royal  power,  which  it  was  the  first  object  of 
that  system  to  consolidate,  was  growing  stronger  and 
stronger,  and  the  nation  in  general,  whilst  it  was  passing 
through  that  phase  in  which  a  strong  government  is  a 
necessary  guide  and  discipline,  was  benefiting  by  the 
policy  which  must  sooner  or  later  educate  it  to  remedy 


T 


JL 


the  abuses  andperhaps  to  overthrow  the  strong  govern- 
ment itself.  But  as  yet  the  royal  power  was  wielded  by 
men  who  used  it  like  statesmen,  and  the  strength  of  the 
nation  was  not  tempted  to  assert  itself  by  a  premature 
struggle.  One  great  personal  struggle  there  was  during 
the  reign,  and  a  somewhat  interesting  one  in  point  of 
detail,  but  it  is  one  which  typified  and  prefigured  rather 
than  formed  a  link  in  the  chain  of  causes  that  brought 
about  the  struggle  of  Runnymede. 

The  great  subjects  of  romantic  interest  are  Richard's 
crusade,  captivity,  and  death.  England  had  little  to  do 
with  these,  except  as  being  the  source  for  the  supply  of 
treasure ;  she  scarcely  saw  Richard ;  to  her  the  king  was 
little  more  than  a  political  expression  which  furnished 
arguments  to  a  series  of  powerful  administrators,  William 
Longchamp,  Walter  of  Coutances,  Hubert  Walter,  and 
Geoffrey  FitzPeter.  But  as  connecting  English  with 
Continental  history  the  personal  career  of  Richard  has 
its  own  interest  and  value,  and,  even  in  a  rapid  survey 
like  the  present,  it  demands,  if  not  the  first  place,  cer- 
tainly one  which  is  second  to  no  other. 

Richard,  as  we  have  seen,  was  not  acknowledged  by 
his  father  as  his  heir,  nor  had  he  received  the  homage  of 
the  barons  as  presumptive  successor,  until  he  Richard's 
had  wrung  the  concession  from  the  dying  succession. 
Henry  on  the  field  of  Colcmbieres.  The  fact  that,  with- 
out a  word  of  opposition,  he  was  received  as  Duke  of 
Normandy,  Count  of  Anjou,  and  King  of  the  English,  im- 
mediately on  the  news  of  his  father's  death,  proves  that 
the  doctrine  of  hereditary  succession  was,  in  practice  if 
not  in  theory,  already  admitted  as  the  lawful  one,  and 
that  Henry's  reforms  had  left  the  countries  subject  to  his 
ifnmediate  sway  in  such  order  that  no  one  even  ventured 
to  take  advantage  of  the  interregnum  to  disturb  the 
peace.     It  also  proves  that  Richard  had  strong  friends. 


io6 


The  Early  Plantagencts.        a.d.  11S9. 


Among  these  the  first  was  his  mother,  who,  rejoicing  in 
Eleanor  her  deliverance  by   Henry's  death  from  her 

regent.  \ori^  captivitv,  placcd  herself  at  the  head  of 

the  English  government,  and,  empowered  by  Richard, 
ruled  as  regent  until  his  arrival.  One  reason  for  this 
probably  was  that  Ranulf  Glanvill,  the  justiciar,  had 
been  a  confidential  friend  of  Henry,  and  may  have  been 
suspected  of  promoting  the  design  of  placing  John  upon 
the  throne.  For  more  than  a  month  Eleanor  reigned, 
Richard  spending  the  time  in  making  terms  with  Philip, 
who  had  become  his  enemy  as  soon  as  he  succeeded  to 
his  father's  place,  and  in  receiving  the  formal  investi- 
ture of  the  several  dignities  which  he  claimed  on  the 
Continent. 

In  the  middle  of  August  he  came  to  England,  and 
John  with  him.  After  a  magnificent  progress  of  little  more 
Coronation  than  a  fortnight,  he  was  crowned  with  exceed- 
of  Richard,  j^g  great  pomp  at  Westminster,  on  the  3rd  of 
September.  This  is  the  first  coronation  the  state  cere- 
monies of  which  have  been  exactly  recorded,  and  it  has 
remained  a  precedent  for  all  subsequent  occasions  :  the 
religious  services  of  course  are  much  older.  It  was  un- 
fortunately disgraced  by  a  riot  promoted  by  Richard's 
Persecution  foreign  attendants  against  the  Jews,  who, 
of  the  Jews,  notwithstanding  the  king's  exertions,  were 
severely  handled,  robbed,  and  murdered,  the  example 
being  followed,  as  soon  as  his  personal  protection  was 
removed,  at  York,  Stamford,  and  St.  Edmund's. 

Richard  at  the  time  of  his  coronation  was  thirty-two 
years  old ;  a  man  of  tall  stature,  like  his  father  and  elder 
brother,  ruddy  and  brown-haired,  and  giving  already 
some  indications  of  corpulence,  which  he  tried  to  keep 
down  by  constant  exercise.  In  dress  he  was  very  splendid 
and  ostentatious,  therein  unlike  his  fiither.  The  dissimi- 
larity in  character  was  greater.     Richard  was  foolishly 


A.D.   1 1 89. 


Richard  Ccetir  de  Lion. 


107 


extravagant,  as  lavish  of  money  as  Henry  was  sparing, 
and  as  unscrupulous  in  his  ways  of  exacting  character  of 
it  as  his  father  was  cautious  and  considerate.  l<it:hard. 
At  this  period  of  his  life  he  had  no  pronounced  political 
views ;  he  had  taken  the  Cross,  and  was  that  very  rare 
phenomenon,  an  ardent  Crusader,  but  he  had  not  yet 
conceived  a  political  scheme  as  King  of  England  or  as 
enemy  of  the  King  of  France.  He  had  not  thought  of 
taking  into  his  hands  the  strings  of  that  foreign  policy 
for  which  Henry  had  sacrificed  so  much.  He  despised 
his  friend  Philip  far  more  than  his  knowledge  of  him 
or  the  results  of  their  intercourse  justified  him  in  doing ; 
he  trusted  in  himself  far  more  than  any  rnan  should 
do  who  has  any  sense  of  the  rights  or  duties  of  king- 
ship. He  was  a  thorough  warrior;  personally  brave, 
fearless  in  danger,  politic  and  cautious  in  planning  and 
rapid  in  executing,  exhibiting  in  battle  the  very  faculties 
which  deserted  him  in  council — circumspection,  self-con- 
trol, readiness.  He  cared  more  for  the  glory  of  victory 
than  either  for  the  fame  or  the  substance  of  it ;  it  was 
his  very  joy  to  excel  in  arms,  rather  than  to  win  re- 
nown or  profit ;  yet  for  both  renown  and  profit  he  had  an 
insatiable  thirst  also.  He  was  eloquent,  generous,  and 
impulsive.  In  religion  he  was  perhaps  more  sincere  than 
his  family  generally  were  :  he  heard  mass  daily,  and  on 
three  occasions  did  penance  in  a  very  remarkable  way, 
simply  on  the  impulse  of  his  own  distressed  conscience. 
He  did  not  show  the  carelessness  in  divine  things  that 
marked  the  house  of  Anjou,  still  less  the  brutal  profanity 
of  John.  But  notwithstanding  this  he  was  a  vicious 
man,  a  bad  husband  and  a  bad  son  ;  vicious,  although 
his  vices  did  not,  like  those  of  his  father  and  brother, 
complicate  his  public  policy.  All  one  can  say  about  this 
is  that,  when  he  professed  penitence,  he  seems  to  have 
been  sincerely  penitent.     His  best  trait  is  the  forgiving- 


io8 


The  Early  Plantagencts.       a.d.  1189. 


ness  of  his  character,  and  that  is  especially  shown  in  his 
treatment  of  John. 

The  accession  of  such  a  prince  might  well  be  watched 
with  interest;  but  Richard  was  as  yet  scarcely  known  in 
Endand.  He  had  been  born,  indeed,  either  at  Oxford  or 
at  Woodstock,  and  his  nurse  was  a  Wiltshire  or  Oxford- 
shire woman ;  but  when  quite  a  child  he  had  been  taken 
abroad,  and  had  only  visited  England  two  or  three  times 
for  a  month  or  so  since.  Hence,  although  he  was  a  fair 
scholar  and  a  poet,  it  may  be  questioned  whether  he  could 
speak  a  sentence  in  English.  He  had  been  educated,  in 
fact,  to  be  Duke  of  Aquitaine,  and  it  was  only  since  his 
brother's  death  that  he  had  been  an  object  of  interest  on 
this  side  the  Channel.  No  doubt  changes  were  looked 
for;  and  in  one  respect  change  came,  for  very  early  he 
removed  Glanvill  from  the  office  of  Justiciar  and  made 
him  pay  a  very  heavy  fine  before  he  released  him  from 
custody.  But  this  act  was  probably  one  of  greed  rather 
than  of  policy,  for  he  wanted  money,  and  did  not  specu- 
late on  statecraft.  Glanvill,  too,  was  bound  on  the  Cru- 
sade, and  was  an  old  man  whose  days  of  governing  were 
over. 

The  same  want  of  money  led  Richard,  in  a  great 
council  which  he  held  at  Pipewell  in  the  month  of  the 
Council  of  coronation,  to  sell  almost  everything  that  he 
Pipewell.  could  scU :  sheriffdoms,  justiceships,  church 
lands,  and  appointments  of  all  kinds.  To  the  King  of 
Scots  he  sold  the  release  from  the  obligations  which 
Henr>'  had  exacted  in  the  peace  of  Falaise ;  to  the 
Bishop  of  Durham  he  sold  the  office  of  Justiciar,  or  a 
share  in  it,  and  the  county  of  Northumberland;  to  the 
Bishop  of  Winchester  he  sold  the  sheriffdom  of  Hamp- 
shire, and  castles  and  lands  belonging  of  old  to  his  see. 
Many  other  prelates  paid  large  sums  to  secure  rights  and 
properties  which  were  their  own,  but  which  were  deemed 


A.D.  1 190. 


RicJiard  Ccciir  de  Lion. 


109 


safer  for  the  royal  confirmation ;  and  so  great  were  the 
promises  of  money  made  to  him  that,  if  they  had  been 
fulfilled,  he  would  have  been  richer  by  far  than  all  the 
kings  that  were  before  him.  He  filled  up  the  bishoprics 
with  officers  of  his  father's  court.  York  he  gave  to 
his  half-brother  Geoffrey  the  Chancellor;  Salisbury  to 
Hubert  Walter,  nephew  of  the  Justiciar  Glanvill;  Lon- 
don to  Richard  the  son  of  old  Bishop  Nigel  of  Ely  the 
treasurer,  and  himself  also  treasurer  and  historian  of  the 
Exchequer. 

He  also  made  great  provision  for  John.  He  had  him 
married,  as  soon  as  he  could,  to  the  heiress  of  Glouces- 
ter, to  whom  he  had  been  so  long  betrothed,     r,     •  • 

1111  11-1  r'rovision 

although  the  archbishop  protested  that  they  made  for 
were  too  near  akin.  He  gave  him  the  counties  ^^"" 
of  Dorset,  Devon,  Cornwall,  Somerset,  Derby,  and  Not- 
tingham, with  divers  other  castles  and  honours  ;  but  he 
would  not  recognise  him  as  his  heir  or  leave  him  with  a 
settled  share  in  the  government.  The  real  power  he 
placed  in  the  hands  of  a  man  whom  he  had  found  for 
himself,  William  Longchamp,  who  had  gone     „ 

^,  ,       .  1  •    •  .        ,        ^.  Promotion 

through  the  usual  training  m  the  Chancery,  of  Long- 
and  whom  he  now  made  Chancellor  and  ^^^"^p- 
Bishop  of  Ely.  To  him  also  he  committed  the  justiciar- 
ship,  in  partnership  with  the  Bishop  of  Durham,  after  the 
death  of  William  de  Mandeville,  whom  he  had  meant  to 
leave  as  lieutenant-general  of  the  kingdom ;  and  before 
his  final  departure  on  the  Crusade  he  made  him  sole 
Justiciar,  and  obtained  for  him  the  office  of  legate  from 
Clement  HI. 

In  order  to  remove  the  two  greatest  obstacles  to  peace 
he  bound  his  two  brothers  John  and  Geoffrey     Richard 
to  stay  away  for  three  years  from  England,  so    ^^uide  ^'^^ 
as  to  leave  a  clear  stage  for  Longchamp.     He     1190- 
then  prepared  for  his  departure.     He  left  England  in 


no  The  Early  Plaiitagenets.       a.d.  1189. 

December.  After  arranging  matters  in  Normandy  and 
Poictou,  he  proceeded  to  Vezelai,  whence  he  started  with 
PhiHp  soon  alter  midsummer.  It  may  be  said  that,  in 
spite  of  good  intentions,  he  took  away  with  him  the 
men  whom  it  would  have  been  wisest  to  leave  behind, 
Archbishop  Baldwin  of  Canterbury,  Ranulf  Glanvill,  and 
Hubert  Walter,  and  left  behind  him  the  uneasy  spirits 
whom  he  might  have  made  useful  against  the  infidel, 
John,  Geoffrey,  and  Longchamp.  And  this  the  later  his- 
tory proves.     At  present  we  will  follow  Richard. 

The  third  Crusade,  in  which  he  was  the  foremost 
actor,  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  parts  of  the 
The  Third  crusading  history ;  the  greatness  of  the  occa- 
Crusade.  gjon,  the  grcatncss  of  the  heroes,  and  the 
greatness  of  the  failure,  mark  it  out  especially.  And  yet 
it  was  not  altogether  a  failure,  for  it  stayed  the  Western 
progress  of  Saladin,  and  Islam  never  again  had  so 
great  a  captain.  Jerusalem  had  been  taken  in  the 
autumn  of  1187.  The  king  had  been  taken  prisoner 
in  the  summer.  Before  or  after  the  capture  almost 
every  stronghold  had  been  surrendered  within  the 
territory  of  Jerusalem.  Saving  the  lordship  of  Tyre 
and  the  principalities  of  Antioch  and  Tripoli,  all  the 
Frank  possessions  had  been  lost,  and  only  a  few  moun- 
tain fortresses  kept  up  a  hopeless  resistance.  The 
counsels  of  the  Crusaders  were  divided;  the  military 
orders  hated  and  were  hated  by  the  Frank  nobility  ;  and 
these,  with  an  admixture  of  Western  adventurers  like 
Conrad  of  Montferrat,  played  fast  and  loose  with  Saladin, 
betraying  the  interests  of  Christendom  and  working  up 
in  their  noble  enemy  a  sum  of  mistrust  and  contempt 
which  he  intended  should  accumulate  till  he  could  take 
full  vengeance. 

When  King  Guy,  released  from  captivity,  opened,  in 
August  1 1 89,  the  siege  of  Acre,  he  was  probably  conscious 


I 


"mtf 


A.D.  1189.         Richard  Caiir  dc  Lion,  \  1 1 

that  no  more  futile  design  was  ever  attempted.     Yet  it 
showed  an  amount  of  spirit  unsuspected  by     sie  e  of 
the  Western  princes,  and  drew  at  once  to  his    Acr?  "^ 
side   all  the  adventurous  soldiers  of  the  Cross.     If  he 
could  maintain  the  siege  long  enough,  there  were  hopes 
of  ultimate  success  against   Saladin,  of  the  recovery  of 
the  Cross  and  the  Sepulchre,  for  the  emperor  and  the 
kings   of  the  West  were  all  on  the   road  to  Palestine. 
Month  after  month  passed  on.  The  Danes  and  the  Flem- 
ings arrived  early,  but  the  great  hosts  lagged  strangely 
behind.      The    great    hero    Frederick   of   Hohenstaufen 
started  first;  he  was  to  go  by  land.     Like  a     cru,.de  of 
great  king,  such  as  he  was,  he  first  set  his     Frederick, 
realms  in  order;  early  in   1188,  at  what  was  called  the 
Court  of  (iod,  at  Mentz,  he  called  his  hosts  together  • 
then  from  Ratisbon,  on  St.   George's  day,  1189,  he  set 
off,  like  St.  George  himself,  on  a  pilgrimage  against  the 
dragons  and  enchanters  that  lay  in  wait  for  him  in  the 
barbarous  lands  of  the  Danube  and  in  Asia  Minor.     The 
dragons  were  plague  and  famine,  the  enchanters  were 
Byzantine   treachery   and    Seljukian    artifice.     Through 
both  the  true  and  perfect  knight  passed  with  neither  fear 
nor  reproach.     In  a  little  river  among  the  mountains  of 
Cihcia  he  met  the  strongest  enemy,  and  only  his  bones 
reached  the  land  of  his  pilgrimage.     His  people  looked 
for  him  as   the  Britons  for  Arthur.     Thev  would  not 
believe  him  dead.      Still  legend  places  him,  asleep  but 
yet  alive,  m  a  cave  among  the  Thuringian  mouniains,  to 
awake  and  come  again  in  the  great  hour  of  German  need. 
His  diminished  and  perishing  army  brought  famine  and 
pestilence  to  the  besieging  host  at  Acre.    His  son  Frede- 
rick of  Swabia,  who  commanded  them,  died  with  them ; 
and  the  German  Crusaders  who  were  left— few  indeed 
alter  the  struggle-returned  to  Germany  before  the  close 
OJ  the  Crusade  under  Duke  Leopold  of  Austria. 


1 1 2  The  Early  Plantagenets.        a.  d.  1 190. 

Next  perhaps,  after  the  Emperor,  the  Crusade  de- 
pended on  the  King  of  Sicily-he  died  four  months  after 
hisfather-in-law,  Henry  II.  ■,.  ^\^„ 

For  two  years  the  siege  of  Acre  dragged  on  ,t.  m.ser- 
able  length.    It  was  a  siege  within  a  siege :  the  Clnnst.an 
host  held  the  Saracen  army  withm  the  walls ; 
Segfac  they  themselves  fortified  an  entrenched  camp ; 

A"'-  outside   the  trench  was  a  countless  Saracen 

host  besieging  the  besiegers.  The  command  of  the  sea 
was  disputed:  but  both  parties  found  the,r  supplies  m 
that  way,  and  both  suffered  together. 

This  had  been  going  on  for  nearly  a  year  before 
Richard  and  Philip  left  Vezelai.     From  V-ela-  to  Lyons 
f     the  kings  marched  together ;  then  Phil  p  set 
£cS°      out  for  Genoa,  Richard  for  Marseilles.     R.ch- 
ard  coasted  along  the  Italian  shore,  wiling  -vay  the  t>me 
until  his  fleet  arrived.     The  ships  had  gone,  of  course, 
bv    he  Bav  of  Biscay  and  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  where 
they  had  been  drawn  into  the  constant  crusade  gomg 
on  between  the  Moors  and  the  Portuguese,  and  lost  time 
also  by  s^lin-  up  to  Marseilles,  where  they  expected  to 
meet  the  k^.     Notwithstanding  the  delay  they  arrived 
S  Messma  ^veral  days  before  Richard.     Phil.p,  -hose 
fleeVsuch  as  it  was,  had  assembled  at  Marse.Ues,  reached 
the  Dlace  of  rendezvous  ten  days  before  him. 

Immediately  on  Richard's  arrival,  on  September  ^ 3, 
Philip  took  ship,  but  as  i-™ediately  put  back^  Richard 
.,.,  ,  ,  ,  made  no  attempt  to  go  farther  than  Messina 
iX:^"*  until  the  spring.  It  was  an  unfortunate  delay, 
but  it  was  absolutely  necessary.     The  besiegers  of  Acre 

wl  plrishing  with  plague  and  fa-;"e  ^  P™-^"the 
not  abundant  even  in  the  fleet.  To  have  ad-^^^  *« 
Kn-lish  and  French  armies  to  the  perishing  host  wouia 
l^ngusn  ana  English  barons,  how- 

have  been  suicidal.     Some  01  tne  r-it, 
ever,  persisted.    Ranulf  Glanvill  went  on  to  Acre,  and 


A.D.  I  191, 


Richard  Ccciir  de  Lion. 


II 


\ 


died  in  the  autumn  of  1190;   Archbishop  Baldwin  and 
Hubert  Walter,  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  took  the  mili- 
tary as  well  as  the   spiritual   command  of  the   English 
contingent ;  but  me  archbishop  died  in  November,  and 
Hubert  found  his  chief  employment  in  ministering  to  the 
starving  soldiers.     Queen  Sibylla  and  her  children  were 
dead   also  ;   and  Conrad  of  Montferrat,  separating  her 
sister,  now  the  heiress  of  the  Frank  kingdom,  from  her 
youthful  husband,  prevailed  on  the  patriarch  to  marry 
her   to    himself,   and    so   to   oust    King    Guy,   and   still 
more  divide  the  divided  camp.     The  two  factions  were 
arrayed   against  one  another  as  bitterly  as  the  general 
exhaustion  permitted,  when  at  last  Philip  and  Richard 
came. 

The  winter  months  of  1 190  and  the  spring  of  1 191  had 
been  spent  by  them  in  very  uneasy  lodgings  at  Messina. 
Richard  and  Philip  were,  from  the  very  first,    ihe  kings 
jealous  of  one  another.   Richard  was  betrothed     ^^  Messina, 
to  Philip's  sister,  and  Philip  suspected  him  of  wishing  to 
break  off  the  engagement.    Richard's  sister  Johanna,  the 
widow  of  William  the  Good,  was  still  in  Sicily.     Richard 
wanted  to  get  her  and  her  fortune  into  his  hands  and  out 
of  the  hands  of  Tancred,  who,  with  a  doubtful  claim,  had 
set  himself  up  as  King  of  Sicily  against  Henry  of  Hohen- 
staufen,  who  had  married  the  late  king's  aunt.     Now,  the 
Hohenstaufen  and  the  French  had  always  been  allies; 
Richard,  through  his  sister's  marriage  with  Henry  the  Lion, 
was  closely  connected  with  the  Welfs,  who  had  suffered 
forfeiture  and  banishment  from  the  policy  of  Frederick 
Barbarossa.      He  was  also  naturally  the  ally  of  Tan- 
cred, who  looked  upon  him  as  the  head  of    Richard  and 
Norman  chivalry.      Yet  to  secure  his  sister  he     Tancred. 
found  it  necessary  to  force  Tancred  to  terms.     Whilst 
Tancred  negotiated  the  people  of  Messina  rose  against 
the   strangers;   the   strangers   quarrelled   among   them- 
M.H,  I 


112 


The  Early  Plantagenets.        a.d.  1190. 


Double 
siege  at 
Acre. 


Next  perhaps,  after  the  Emperor,  the  Crusade  de- 
pended on  the  King  of  Sicily — he  died  four  months  after 
his  father-in-law,  Henry  II. 

For  two  years  the  siege  of  Acre  dragged  on  its  miser- 
able length.  It  was  a  siege  within  a  siege  :  the  Christian 
host  held  the  Saracen  army  within  the  wall*; ; 
they  themselves  fortified  an  entrenched  camp  ; 
outside  the  trench  was  a  countless  Saracen 
host  besieging  the  besiegers.  The  command  of  the  sea 
was  disputed,  but  both  parties  found  their  supplies  in 
that  way,  and  both  suffered  together. 

This  had  been  going  on  for  nearly  a  year  before 
Richard  and  Philip  left  Vezelai.  From  Vezelai  to  Lyons 
Journey  of  the  kings  marched  together ;  then  Philip  set 
Richard.  out  for  Genoa,  Richard  for  Marseilles.  Rich- 
ard coasted  along  the  Italian  shore,  wiling  away  the  time 
until  his  fleet  arrived.  The  ships  had  gone,  of  course, 
by  the  Bay  of  Biscay  and  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  where 
they  had  been  drawn  into  the  constant  crusade  going 
on  between  the  Moors  and  the  Portuguese,  and  lost  time 
also  by  sailing  up  to  Marseilles,  where  they  expected  to 
meet  the  king.  Notwithstanding  the  delay  they  arrived 
at  Messina  several  days  before  Richard.  Philip,  whose 
fleet,  such  as  it  was,  had  assembled  at  Marseilles,  reached 
the  place  of  rendezvous  ten  days  before  him. 

Immediately  on  Richard's  arrival,  on  September  23, 
Philip  took  ship,  but  as  immediately  put  back.  Richard 
The  English  "lade  no  attempt  to  go  farther  than  Messina 
at  Acre.  until  the  spring.    It  was  an  unfortunate  delay, 

but  it  was  absolutely  necessary.  The  besiegers  of  Acre 
were  perishing  with  plague  and  famine;  provisions  were 
not  abundant  even  in  the  fleet.  To  have  added  the 
English  and  French  armies  to  the  perishing  host  would 
have  been  suicidal.  Some  of  the  English  barons,  how- 
ever, persisted.     Ranulf  Glanvill  went  on  to  Acre,  and 


1- 

7 


A.O.  II91, 


Richard  Cccur  dc  Lion. 


113 


\ 


died  in  the  autumn  of  1190;  Archbishop  Baldwin  and 
Hubert  Walter,  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  took  the  mili- 
tary as  well  as  the  spiritual  command  of  the  English 
contingent ;  but  the  archbishop  died  in  November,  and 
Hubert  found  his  chief  employment  in  ministering  to  the 
starving  soldiers.  Queen  Sibylla  and  her  children  were 
dead  also  ;  and  Conrad  of  Montferrat,  separating  her 
sister,  now  the  heiress  of  the  Frank  kingdom,  from  her 
youthful  husband,  prevailed  on  the  patriarch  to  marry 
her  to  himself,  and  so  to  oust  King  Guy,  and  still 
more  divide  the  divided  camp.  The  two  factions  were 
arrayed  against  one  another  as  bitterly  as  the  general 
exhaustion  permitted,  when  at  last  Philip  and  Richard 
came. 

The  winter  months  of  1 190  and  the  spring  of  1 191  had 
been  spent  by  them  in  very  uneasy  lodgings  at  Messina. 
Richard  and  Philip  were,  from  the  very  first,     The  kings 
jealous  of  one  another.  Richard  was  betrothed    ^^  Messina. 
to  Philip's  sister,  and  Philip  suspected  him  of  wishing  to 
break  off  the  engagement.    Richard's  sister  Johanna,  the 
widow  of  William  the  Good,  was  still  in  Sicily.     Richard 
wanted  to  get  her  and  her  fortune  into  his  hands  and  out 
of  the  hands  of  Tancred,  who,  with  a  doubtful  claim,  had 
set  himself  up  as  King  of  Sicily  against  Henry  of  Hohen- 
staufen,  who  had  married  the  late  king's  aunt.     Now,  the 
Hohenstaufen  and  the  French  had  always  been  allies; 
Richard,  through  his  sister's  marriage  with  Henry  the  Lion, 
was  closely  connected  with  the  Welfs,  who  had  suffered 
forfeiture  and  banishment  from  the  policy  of  Frederick 
Barbarossa.      He  was  also  naturally  the  ally  of  Tan- 
cred, who  looked  upon  him  as  the  head  of    Richard  and 
Norman  chivalry.      Yet  to  secure  his  sister  he     I'^n'-red. 
found  it  necessary  to  force  Tancred  to  terms.     Whilst 
Tancred  negotiated  the  people  of  Messina  rose  against 
the   strangers;   the   strangers   quarrelled   among   them- 
M.H,  I 


. 


114 


TJic  Early  Plantagcncts. 


A.D.  1191. 


Richard 
sails  from 
Messina. 


selves;  Philip  planned  treachery  against  Richard,  and 
tried  to  draw  Tancred  into  a  conspiracy;  Tancred  in- 
formed Richard  of  the  treachery.  IVIatters  were  within 
a  hair's  breadth  of  a  battle  between  the  crusading  kings. 
Philip's  strength,  however,  was  not  equal  to  his  spite, 
and  the  air  gradually  cleared.  Tancred  gave  up  the 
queen  and  her  fortune,  and  arranged  a  marriage  for  one 
of  his  daughters  with  Arthur  of  Brittany,  who  was  re- 
cognised as  Richard's  heir.  Soon  after  Queen  Eleanor 
arrived  at  Naples  with  the  lady  Berengaria  of  Navarre 
in  her  company;  whereupon,  by  the  advice  of  Count 
Philip  of  Flanders,  Philip  released  Richard  from  the 
promise  to  marry  his  sister ;  and  at  last,  at  the  end  of 
March  1191,  the  French  Crusaders  sailed  away  to  Acre. 
Richard  followed  in  a  few  days ;  but  a  storm 
carrying  part  of  his  fleet  to  Cyprus,  he  found 
himself  obliged  to  fight  with  Isaac  Comnenus, 
the  Emperor,  and  then  to  conquer  and  reform  the  island, 
where  also  he  was  married.  After  he  reached  Acre,  where 
he  arrived  on  June  8,  he  as  well  as  Philip  fell  ill,  and 
only  after  a  delay  of  some  weeks  was  able  to  take  part  in 
Acre  taken,  the  siegc.  The  town  held  out  a  little  longer ; 
"91-  but  early  in  July  it  surrendered,  and  gave  the 

Christians  once  more  a  footing  in  the  Holy  Land.  Im- 
mediately after  the  capture  Philip  started  homewards, 
leaving  his  vow  of  pilgrimage  unfulfilled.  Richard  re- 
mained to  complete  the  conquest. 

The  sufferings  and  the  cruelties  of  this  part  of  the 
history  are  not  pleasant  to  dwell  upon.     It  is  a  sad  tale 

Richard's  ^^  ^^^^  ^^^^  Saladin  slew  his  prisoners,  how 
campaigns  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  and  Richard  slew 
theirs ;  how  Conrad  and  Guy  quarrelled,  the 
French  supporting  Conrad  and  Richard  supporting  Guy; 
how  the  people  perished,  and  bi-ave  and  noble  knights 
took  menial  service  to  earn  bread,     A  more  brilliant  yet 


# 


I 


T 


A.D.    1 192. 


Richard  Ca:ur  dc  Lion, 


115 


scarcely  less  sad  story  is  the  great  march  of  Richard  by 
the  way  of  the  sea  from  Acre  to  Joppa,  and  his  progress, 
after  a  stay  of  seven  weeks  at  Joppa,  on  the  way  to  Jeru- 
salem as  far  as  Ramlah.  Every  step  was  dogged  by 
Saladin,  every  straggler  cut  off,  every  place  of  encamp- 
ment won  by  fighting.  Christmas  found  the  king  within 
a  few  miles  of  Jerusalem;  but  he  never  came  within 
reach  of  it.  Had  he  known  the  internal  condition  of  the 
city  he  might  have  taken  it.  Jerusalem  was  in  a  panic, 
Saladin  for  once  paralysed  by  alarm;  but  Richard  had 
no  good  intelligence.  The  Franks  insisted  that  Ascalon 
should  be  secured  before  the  Holy  City  was  occupied. 
The  favourable  moment  passed  away. 

Richard  with  a  heavy  heart  turned  his  back  on  Jeru- 
salem and  went  to  rebuild  Ascalon.     Ikfore    Ascalon 
that  was  done  the  French  began  to  draw  back,     rebuilt. 
The  struggle  between  Guy  and  Conrad  broke  out  again. 
Saladin,  by  Easter  1192,  was  in  full  force  and  in  good 
spirits  again.     Richard  performed  during  these  months 
some  of  the  most  daring  exploits  of  his  whole     Exploits  of 
life :    capturing   the    fortresses   of   the   south     Richard, 
country  of  Judah,  and  with  a  small  force  and  incredibly 
rapid  movements  intercepting  the  great  caravan  of  the 
Saracens  on  the  borders  of  the  desert.      Such  acts  in- 
creased his  fame  but  scarcely  helped  the  Crusade. 

In  June  it  became  absolutely  necessary  to  determine 
on  further  steps.  Now  the  French  insisted  on  attacking 
Jerusalem.  Richard  had  learned  caution,  and  the  council 
of  the  Crusade  recommended  an  expedition  to  Egypt 
to  secure  the  south  as  Acre  barred  the  north.  At  last 
Richard  yielded  to  the  pressure  of  the  French,  March  on 
and  in  spite  of  the  want  of  water  and  the  ab-  Jerusalem, 
surdity  of  sitting  down  before  the  Holy  City  with  an 
enormous  army  in  the  middle  of  summer,  he  led  them 
again  to  Beit-niaba,  four  hours'  journey  from  Jerusalem. 


I  2 


W 


ii6 


The  Early  Plaiitagcncts.        a.d.  1193. 


Then  the  French  changed  their  minds  again  ;  and  thence, 
on  July  4,  began  the  retreat  preparatory  to  the  return. 
Richard  had  been  too  long  away  from  France,  whither 
Philip  had  returned,  and  from  England,  where  John  was 
Retreat  and  Waiting  for  his  chanccs ;  he  began  to  negotiate 
truce.  fQj.  ^  truce,  and  in  September,  after  a  dashing 

exploit  at  Joppa,  in  which  he  rescued  the  town  from 
almost  certain  capture,  he  arranged  a  peace  for  three 
years  three  months  and  three  days. 

Early  in  October  he  left  Palestine,  the  Bishop  of 
Salisbury  remaining  to  lead  home  the  remnant  of  the 
Richards  host,  as  soon  as  they  had  performed  the  pil- 
journey  grimagc  which  they  were  to  make  under  the 

homewards.  ^        ■  r  t^    ^     ^■  t-.  •    i         i     • 

protection  of  Saladm.  Richard,  nnpatient  of 
delay,  and  not  deeming  himself  worthy  to  look  on  the 
city  which  he  had  not  strength  and  grace  to  win  back  for 
Christendom,  left  his  fleet  and  committed  himself  to 
the  ordinary  means  of  transport.  After  bargaining  with 
pirates  and  smugglers  for  a  passage,  and  losing  time  by 
unnecessary  hurry,  he  was  shipwrecked  on  the  coast  of 
the  Adriatic  near  Aquileia;  travelled  in  disguise  through 
Friuli  and  part  of  Salzburg,  and  was  caught  by  Duke 
Leopold  of  Austria,  his  bitter  personal  enemy,  at  Vienna, 
in  December.  In  March  1193  he  was  handed  over  to 
the  Emperor  Henry  VI.,  who  was  in  correspondence  with 
Philip  of  France,  as  Philip  was  with  John.  For  more 
than  a  year  Richard  was  in  captivity.  We  may  take  the 
opportunity  of  turning  back  and  seeing  how  England  had 
fared  during  his  absence. 

When  he  started  on  the  Crusade,  early  in  December 
1 189,  he  left  the  regency  in  the  hands  of  Bishop  Hugh 
England  °^  Durham  and  Bishop  William  of  Ely  the 
during  the  Chancellor,  with  a  committee  of  associate 
justices.  John  and  Geoffrey  had  sworn  to 
stay  away  for  three  years.    As  soon  as  he  was  out  of  the 


A.D.  1 190. 


RicJiard  Cccur  de  Lion, 


117 


country,  as  early  as  January  1 190,  the  justices  quarrelled. 
They  were,  indeed,  very  ill-mated.  Hugh  de  Puiset,  the 
liishop  of  Durham,  was  a  great  lord  of  the  Hugh  de 
house  of  Champagne,  nephew  to  King  Ste-  i^^'s^^t. 
phen,  and  cousin  to  the  king  :  a  rich  man,  an  old  man, 
the  father  of  a  fine  family,  one  son  being  chancellor  to 
the  King  of  France ;  a  great  captain,  a  great  hunter,  a 
most  splendid  builder;  not  a  very  clerical  character,  but 
altogether  a  grand  figure  for  nearly  fifty  years  of  English 
history.  William  of  Longchamp,  although  per-  ^.^^. 
haps,  notwithstanding  the  stigma  of  low  birth  Long- 
cast  upon  him  by  his  rivals,  a  man  of  good  *^  ^'"^* 
family,  was  an  upstart  by  the  side  of  Bishop  Hugh.  He 
was  a  man  of  very  unpopular  manners ;  ver}-  ambitious 
for  himself  and  his  relations,  very  arrogant,  priding  him- 
self on  his  Norman  blood,  but  laughed  at  as  a  parvenu 
by  the  Norman  nobles;  disliking  and  showing  contempt 
in  the  coarsest  way  for  the  English,  whose  language  he 
would  not  speak  and  declared  that  he  did  not  under- 
stand ;  very  jealous  of  a  sharer  in  power,  and  unscru- 
pulous in  his  use  of  it.  With  all  this,  however,  he  was, 
it  is  certain,  faithful  to  Richard ;  his  designs  were  all 
directed  to  the  securing  and  increasing  of  his  master's 
power,  and  his  bitterest  enemies  were  his  masters 
enemies.  Richard  knew  this,  and  never  discarded  his 
minister,  although  his  unpopularity  once  endangered 
the  throne,  and  was  always  so  great  that  he  thought 
it  best  to  keep  him  out  of  the  country.  He  continued 
to  be  chancellor  as  long  as  he  lived.  William,  as  the 
king's  confidant,  chancellor,  justiciar,  and  prospective 
legate,  was  far  more  than  a  match  for  Bishop  Hugh. 
They  quarrelled  at  the  Exchequer  as  soon  Quarrel  of 
as  Richard  left  for  France.  The  chancellor  the  justices, 
crossed  over  and  laid  his  complaint  before  the  king; 
then  Hugh  followed,  and  obtained  a  favourable  answer; 


ii8 


The  Early  Plantagcnets. 


A.D.    IIOO. 


A.D.    II9I. 


Richard  Ca:nr  dc  Lion. 


119 


but  when  he  presented  the  royal  letters  to  Longchanip 
he  was  arrested  and  kept  in  honourable  confinement  until 
the  king^s  pleasure  should  be  further  known.  Richard 
was  probably  aware  of  this  summary  treatment  of  the 
bishop,  but  he  had  extracted  from  his  coffers  as  much  of 
his  treasure  as  he  was  likely  for  the  present  to  get,  and 
he  practically  rewarded  the  chancellor  by  showing  him 
increased  confidence.  In  June  Longchamp  became 
legate  of  the  pope  and  sole  justiciar. 

After  Hugh  de  Puiset's  defeat  Longchamp  had  several 
months  of  practical  sovereignty ;  supreme  in  Church  and 
Longchamp  State,  he  travelled  about  in  royal  pomp, 
supreme.  making  double  exactions,  as  chancellor  and 
legate,  from  the  religious  houses.  He  fortified  the  Tower 
of  London.  He  punished  the  rioters  at  York  who  had 
attacked  the  Jews  and  driven  them  to  destroy  themselves. 
He  put  his  own  brothers  into  high  and  lucrative  posts, 
married  his  nephews  and  nieces  to  the  great  wards  of  the 
crown,  taught  the  noble  pages  of  his  household  to  serve 
on  the  knee,  and,  partly  by  misconduct,  partly  by  mis- 
management and  contumelious  behaviour  in  general,  did 
his  best  to  make  himself  intolerable. 

By  this  time  John  was  released  from  the  oath  to  stay 
three  years  on  the  Continent  and  had  come  to  England, 
Position  of  where  he  was  keeping  royal  state  in  his  castles 
John.  Qf  Marlborough  and  Lancaster.     John's  posi- 

tion, if  not  his  ability,  made  him  a  more  formidable  an- 
tagonist than  Bishop  Hugh  de  Puiset,  and  John's  enmity 
was  no  doubt  first  incurred  by  the  support  which  Long- 
champ gave  to  the  idea  that  Arthur  should  be  Richard's 
heir.  Whether  Richard  really  intended  Arthur  to  suc- 
ceed, or  merely  allowed  him  to  be  set  up  as  a  check  upon 
John,  cannot  perhaps  be  certainly  decided  ;  but  he  was 
so  set  up,  and  Longchamp's  policy  was,  for  a  time,  de- 
voted to  the  securing  of  his  claim.     For  a  time  John 


remained  quiet,  angry  at  not  having  his  proper  share  of 
power,  but  restrained  by  the  presence,  and  probably  by 
the  advice,  of  Eleanor,  his  mother,  who  certainly  never 
intended  that  Arthur  should  exclude  him  from  the  throne. 
Eleanor,  however,  early  in  1191,  went  to  Messina  with 
Berengaria  of  Navarre,  and  probably  with  the  express 
purpose  of  laying  before  her  son  the  imprudent  behaviour 
of  his  chancellor.  John  was  thus  released  from  her  influ- 
ence, and  in  a  very  short  time  found  an  opportunity  of 
asserting  himself  as  the  protector  of  the  nation  against 
the  tyranny  of  Longchamp. 

The  Chancellor,  in  pursuance  of  a  deliberate  plan  for 
maintaining  the  royal  power,  was  engaged  in  taking  into 
his  own  hands  the  many  castles  which  since  Longchamp 
the  death  of  Henry  11.  had  got  into  untrust-  fheToTal 
worthy  keeping.  The  importance  of  this  castles. 
measure,  sufficiently  clear  from  the  history  of  the  two 
last  reigns,  justified  some  severity.  Yet  action  so  speedy 
and  direct  could  scarcely  have  been  expected  by  men 
who  had  only  a  year  and  a  half  before  paid  down  large 
sums  of  money  to  Richard  for  the  possessions  of  which 
they  were  now  deprived.  John  knew  this ;  he  knew  that 
he  had  himself  been  kept  out  of  the  castles  belonging  to 
the  lordships  which  were  showered  upon  him,  and  deter- 
mined to  avail  himself  of  the  first  chance  to  set  matters 
right  and  to  obtain  recognition  as  his  brother's  heir.  So 
whilst  Longchamp  was  busy  in  the  West  of  England  John 
took  measures  for  securing  the  castles  of  Tickhill  and 
Nottingham,  the  two  strongest  fortresses  to  which  he 
thought  he  had  a  claim.     The  chance  soon  came. 

Gerard   Camvill,  the  warden  of  Lincoln  Castle  and 
sheriff  of  the  shire,  refused  to  surrender  his  fortress  at 
the  command  of  Longchamp,  and  appealed  to     Gerard 
John  as  his  liege  lord.     John  took  up  arms     <^amvin. 
and  seized  Nottingham  and  Tickhill.     The  Chancellor 


I20 


The  Early  Plantagcncts. 


A.D.    II91. 


went  northwards  to  meet  him,  but  no  battle  was  fought ; 
War  and  and  a  truce  was  made  at  Winchester  towards 
truces.  the  end  of  April  1 191.    This  lasted  but  a  short 

time.  Soon  after  the  pacification,  about  midsummer,  war 
broke  out  again ;  again  the  castles  were  surrendered  to 
John,  and  a  battle  was  imminent.  But  now  a  new  actor 
appeared.  Richard,  hearing  from  his  mother  of  the  angry 
Mission  of  ^^^^^  "^  ^he  kingdom,  sent  from  Messina  the 
Walter  of        Archbishop  of  Rouen,  Walter  of  Coutances, 

Loutances.  i  j        ,-/---     , 

an  old  otficer  of  the  English  court  who  had 
been  Vice-Chancellor  to  Henry  II.,  with  instructions 
of  which  we  have  no  very  certain  account,  but  which 
probably  contained  two  or  three  alternative  courses,  one 
of  which  was  the  superseding  of  Longchamp.  Just  at  the 
same  time  Clement  III.  died,  and  it  was  very  uncertain 
whether  Celestine  III.,  who  succeeded  him,  would  renew 
the  legatine  commission.  The  Archbishop  of  Rouen 
arrived  in  time  to  prevent  bloodshed;  but  he  did  not 
produce  his  summary  instructions.  A  second  truce  was 
made  at  Winchester  in  July,  and  the  castles  both  of  the 
king  and  of  John  were  placed  ?n  safe  hands. 

Two  months  had  scarcely  passed  when  a  third  struggle 
occurred.  Archbishop  Geoffrey  of  York,  released,  as  he 
Return  of  ^^^<^'  ^'^^  John,  from  his  three  years'  exile, 
GeoSe^'''^  returned  from  his  consecration  at  Tours,  and 
^°  ^^^'  landed  at  Dover  in  September.  The  Chan- 
cellor, fearful  of  his  influence  and  afraid  of  his  coalescing 
with  John,  tried  to  prevent  his  landing.  The  new  arch- 
bishop was  sacrilegiously  handled  by  the  legate's  ser- 
vants, drawn  from  sanctuary  and  imprisoned.  John  took 
up  at  once  his  brother's  cause,  and  the  bishops  and 
barons,  indignant  that  a  son  of  the  great  King  Henry 
should  be  so  treated,  compelled  the  Chancellor  to  dis- 
avow the  act  and  release  the  prisoner.  Geoffrey,  set  free, 
went  at  once  to  London.    John  and  the  Archbishop  of 


i 

I 


i 


•^"^^^1^ 


A.D.   I  192. 


Richm-d  Co'tir  dc  Lion. 


121 


Rouen  collected  the  barons,  and  Longchamp  shut  himself 
up  at  Windsor.     The  barons  cried  out  for.his  deposition, 
the  bishops  for  his  excommunication.     Scarcely  any  of 
the    many    friends  whom  he    had    purchased     Longchamp 
stood  by  him.     It  was  at  last  agreed  that  he     removed 
should  meet  the  whole  body  of  the  baronage    justidar- 
at  the  bridge  over  the  Loddon  near  Reading,     ^^'p- 
early  in  October.     The  barons  met  there.      Longchamp's 
courage  failed  him;    instead  of  keeping  his  appointment 
he  started  at  full  speed  to  London.     When  he  arrived 
there  he  found  that  his  friends  were  a  minority  among 
the  citizens,  and  took  refuge  in  the  Tower.     No  sooner 
was  he  there  than  John  and  the  barons  came  at  full  speed 
after  him.     The  next  day  they  held  a  solemn  assembly. 
The  Archbishop  of  Rouen  at  last  exhibited  his  commis- 
sion and  was  received  as  Justiciar.    John  was  recognised 
as  his  brother's  representative.     Longchamp  was  com- 
pelled to  surrender  his  castles  and  go  into  exile.     This 
would  seem  to  have  been  a  case  of  revolutionarv  action, 
rather  than  of  the  constitutional  dismissal  of  a  minister ; 
still  it  is  important  in  it^  relation  to  the  theory  of  the 
responsibility  of  ministers,  and  as  containing  in  germ  the 
idea  that  an  unworthy  minister  is  amenable  to  punish- 
ment and  deposition  at  the  hands  of  the  nation,  and  is 
not  responsible  to  his  master  only. 

Before  Christmas  King  Philip  had  returned  from  the 
Crusade  and  was  laying  snares  for  Richard,  who  was  still 
bearing  the  burden  of  Christendom  in  Pales-     , 

"1        -  Intrigues  of 

tme.  1  he  hrst  net  was  spread  for  John.  John  Philip  and 
was  ver>'  much  disgusted  that  the  Archbishop  -'"^"'  "^''" 
of  Rouen  had  secured  all  the  benefits  of  the  late  victory 
over  the  Chancellor  and  indignant  at  being  kept  in  order 
by  his  mother.  He  was  ready  enough  to  betray  Richard's 
interests ;  he  intrigued  first  with  Philip,  then  with  Long- 
champ, who  wanted  to  return  .to  his  see;   he  accepted 


122 


The  Early  Planiagcnets.        ad.  1193. 


A.D     1 194. 


Richard  Ca'ur  de  Lion. 


123 


bribes  in  money  from  both.  The  whole  year  1192  affords 
nothing  but  a  record  of  his  machinations,  which  were  for 
the  present  futile.  But  when  the  news  of  the  capture  of 
Richard  at  Vienna  arrived  he  immediately  entered  into 
negotiations  with  V\(\\\'<^^bo7id  fide  on  both  sides,  to  secure 
the  crown  to  himself  and  to  prevent  his  brother's  return. 
These  manoeuvres  resulted  in  open  war  as  soon  as  the 
release  of  Richard  was  determined  on. 

We  must  now  return  to  the  fortunes  of  the  captive 
king,  the  news  of  whose  imprisonment  took  all  Europe 
Negotia-  by  Surprise  and  shocked  all  Christendom.  It 
Richard's  reached  England  in  February  1193;  and  the 
release.  first  thing  the  Justiciar  did  was  to  send  two 

abbots  to  Germany  to  seek  him.  They  met  him  at 
Ochsenfurth,  in  Bavaria,  on  his  way  to  Worms,  where  he 
was  to  meet  the  Emperor  on  Palm  Sunday.  Their  first 
negotiations  were  friendly  enough,  notwithstanding  the 
alliance  which  Richard  had  made  with  Tancred,  and  his 
connexion  with  the  Welfic  familv.  An  enormous  ransom 
was  demanded,  but  Richard  was  to  have  no  inconsider- 
able gift  in  compensation,  that  little  Provencal  kingdom 
which  Frederick  had  been  able  to  reclaim,  but  over 
which  Henry  possessed  scarcely  more  than  nominal  sway. 
Richard  was  to  be  made  King  of  Aries.  In  the  mean- 
time he  was  to  resign  the  crown  of  England  to  Henry 
VI.  as  lord  of  the  world,  and  to  receive  it  back  again  as 
a  tributary  fief  of  the  empire ;  and  this,  our  historian 
says,  was  done,  although  the  Emperor  before  his  death 
released  him  from  the  obligation. 

But  as  soon  as  Philip  and  John  learned  that  the 
transaction  was  assuming  such  an  amicable  shape,  they 
attempted  to  prevent  the  Emperor  from  fulfil- 
ling the  agreement,  and  the  position  of  parties 
within  the  empire  gave  them  fair  hopes  of  attaining 
their  end.     For,  in  consequence  of  the  murder  of  the 


Delays. 


■•lAItek 


Bishop  of  Liege,  in  which  the  Emperor  was  somehow 
implicated,  Henr)'  was  at  open  strife  with  the  great  barons 
and  lords  of  the  Low  Countries.  They  hampered  his 
action  in  his  wide-reaching  schemes  of  policy;  against 
them  he  felt  the  need  of  having  Philip's  aid,  and  he 
listened  to  the  overtures  of  Richard's  enemies. 

John,  having  so  far  succeeded  in  retarding  opera- 
tions, secured  his  castles,  and  added  even  Windsor  to 
their  number;  he  gave  out  that  Richard  would  Rebellion  of 
never  return ;  and  although  he  professed  to  J°^"- 
collect  money  for  the  ransom,  collected  all  that  he  could 
in  his  own  treasury.  Eleanor,  however,  and  the  justices, 
were  too  strong  for  him.  Hubert  Walter  too  had  returned 
from  Palestine ;  he,  in  company  with  the  Chancellor,  had 
visited  Richard  in  his  prison,  and  had  by  his  recommend- 
ation been  chosen  archbishop  of  Canterbury.  He  under- 
took to  raise  the  ransom,  and  to  manage  John.  Richard's 
The  whole  nation  behaved  nobly.  Enormous  ransom. 
contributions  were  raised;  the  knights  paid  a  scutage  in 
aid  to  ransom  their  lord ;  the  Cistercians  surrendered 
their  wool ;  the  whole  people  paid  a  fourth  of  their  move- 
able goods,  clergy  as  well  as  lay.  \\  hether  all  the  money 
that  was  raised  reached  the  Emperor's  coffers  may  fairly 
be  doubted,  but  the  nation  paid  it,  and  at  last  by  Feb- 
ruary 1 194  the  ransom  was  ready. 

But  before  Richard  was  set  free  it  was  found  neces- 
sary to  buy  the  help  of  the  lords  of  the  Low  Countries, 
and  compel  Henry  to  fulfil  his  promise  by  Release; 
threats  that  they  would  renounce  their  alle-  "94- 
giance.  He  had  defied  the  Pope,  and  indeed  died  ex- 
communicate, but  he  could  not  stand  against  this  pres- 
sure. Richard  was  released,  and  landed  in  England  on 
the  13th  of  March. 

England  the  returning  hero  found  at  war.  Archbishop 
Hubert,  who  had  succeeded  to  the  justiciarship  at  Christ- 


124 


The  Early  Plantagenets.        a.d.  1194. 


A.D.  1 194-8.       Richard  Cccur  de  Lion. 


Return. 


mas,  had  been  obliged  to  look  John's  treason  in  the  face. 
As  archbishop  he  excommunicated  him ;  as 
justice  he  condemned  him  to  forfeiture ;  as 
lieutenant-general  of  the  king  he  led  an  army  against 
him.  One  by  one  John's  castles  had  been  taken,  and  at 
the  time  of  Richard's  landing  only  Tickhill  and  Not- 
tingham held  out.  Tickhill  surrendered  on  hearing  the 
hews,  Nottingham  at  the  arrival  of  the  king.  John's 
party  at  once  broke  up,  and  Richard  had  but  to  show 
himself  to  be  supreme. 

This  is  Richard's  second  and  last  appearance  on 
English  soil  as  king.  He  stayed  only  from  March  13 
to  May  12,  1 1 94,  but  he  did  a  great  deal  of 
second  visit  busincss.  As  soon  as  Nottingham  had  surren- 
to  England.  ^^^^^  ^g  called  a  great  council  there,  and  for 
three  days  acted  as  chief  judge,  financier,  and  politician ; 
taxing  his  friends,  condemning  his  enemies,  and  concoct- 
ing new  plans  for  the  security  and  quiet  administration 
of  the  realm.  By  selling  sheriffdoms,  exacting  fines,  and 
enacting  taxes,  he  raised,  money  to  begin  hostilities  with 
Philip  at  once.  He  punished  the  enemies  of  Longchamp 
and  the  friends  of  John,  especially  his  chief  minister, 
Hugh  of  Nunant,  Bishop  of  Coventry,  who  had  as  bishop 
and  as  sheriff  offended  the  laws  secular  and  ecclesias- 
tical. But  he  showed  himself  by  no  means  implacable ; 
and,  before  he  left,  he  had  reconciled  not  only  Arch- 
bishop Geoffrey  and  the  Chancellor,  but  almost  all  the 
other  jealous  and  divided  parties.  In  accordance  with  the 
recommendation  of  his  council,  before  he  left  England, 
he  wore  his  crown  in  solemn  state  at  Winchester;  and, 
having  done  fairly  well  all  that  he  had  undertaken,  show- 
ing that  his  pride,  dignity,  and  energy  had  undergone 
no  diminution  by  his  captivity,  he  sailed  to  Barfleur  on  the 
1 2th  of  May,  and  England  saw  his  face  no  more,  heavily 
as  from  time  to  time  she  felt  the  pressure  of  his  hand. 


r 


From  this  time  all  Richard's  personal  history  is  un- 
connected with  England.  From  1194  to  1198  the  king- 
dom   was   governed   by  Hubert  Walter,  the     ^ 

'  (joverament 

Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who,  like  Lonsr-  of  Hubert 
champ,  was  both  legate  and  justiciar;  Long-  ^  ^^' 
champ  retained  the  title  and  emoluments  of  chancellor, 
but  did  not  come  to  England.  The  history  of  these 
years  is  simply  a  record  of  judicial  and  financial  mea- 
sures taken  on  the  lines  and  inspired  by  the  n^otives 
of  Henry  the  Second's  policy.  Hubert  had  been  his 
secretary,  and,  being  the  nephew  of  Ranulf  Glanvill, 
he  had  been  fitted  by  education  to  be  a  sound  lawyer 
and  financier,  as  well  as  a  good  bishop  and  a  suc- 
cessful general.  He  was  a  strong  minister ;  and  al- 
though as  a  good  Englishman  he  made  the  pressure 
of  his  master's  hand  lie  as  lightly  as  he  could  upon 
the  people,  as  a  good  servant  he  tried  to  get  out  of  the 
people  as  much  treasure  as  he  could  for  his  master.  In 
the  raismg  of  the  money  and  in  the  administration  of  jus- 
tice he  tried  and  did  much  to  train  the  people  to  habits  of 
self-government.  He  taught  them  how  to  assess  their  taxes 
by  jury,  to  elect  the  grand  jury  for  the  assizes  of  the 
judges,  to  choose  representative  knights  to  transact  legal 
and  judicial  work ; — such  representative  knights  as  at  a 
later  time  made  convenient  precedents  for  parliamentary 
representation.  The  whole  working  of  elective  and  re- 
presentative institutions  gained  greatly  under  his  man- 
agement— he  educated  the  people  against  the  better  time 
to  come.  But  he  collected  vast  sums — eleven  hundred 
thousand  pounds,  it  was  said,  in  four  years — beyond  the 
ordinary  revenue.  He  allowed  no  evasions.  The  king 
watched  him  closely  ;  threatened  reforms  which  would 
increase  the  exactions  of  the  treasury,  and  directed  the 
formation  of  a  new  national  survey,  or  at  least  tried  to 
force  one  on  the  country.   The  people  of  London,  worked 


126 


The  Early  Plantagcncts.        a.d.  1198. 


A.D. 


1 1 98.         Richard  Caur  de  Lion. 


127 


on  by  the  demagogue  William  FitzOsbert,  insisted  on  a 
new  mode  of  assessment  in  which  the  taxes  would  be 
collected  in  proportion  to  the  means  of  the  payers, 
and  not  by  a  simple  poll-tax.  This  project  might  be  just, 
but  was  promoted  by  rev'olutionary  means  ;  Hubert  sum- 
marily cowed  the  rioters  into  submission.  He  went  to 
the  very  extreme  of  what  was  right  to  serve  Richard, 
and  at  last  he  gave  in  to  the  number  of  influences  which 
combined  to  weary  him  of  a  position  of  power  too  great 
to  be  undertaken  by  any  single  person. 

This  occasion  is  a  memorable  one.  In  the  spring  of 
1 198  Richard,  as  usual,  wanted  money,  and  had  ex- 
Monev  hausted  all  the  usual  means  of  procuring  it. 

refused  by  He  accordingly  directed  Hubert  to  propose 
Council,  to   the  assembled  barons   and   bishops   that 

119S.  xh^y  should  maintain  for  him,  during  his  war, 

a  force  of  three  hundred  knights,  to  be  paid  a  sum  of 
three  shillings  a  day.  To  the  archbishop's  amazement, 
for  the  first  time  for  five-and-thirty  years,  for  the  second 
time  in  English  history,  the  demand  was  disputed.  Again 
the  opposition  was  led  by  a  bishop,  as  then  by  St. 
Thomas,  this  time  by  St.  Hugh.  That  great  Hugh  of 
Lincoln,  the  Burgundian  Carthusian  who  had  won  the 
heart  of  Henry  H.  and  had  treated  him  as  an  equal, 
now  acted  on  behalf  of  the  nation  to  which  he  had  joined 
himself.  Herbert,  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  the  son  of 
Henry's  old  servant  Richard  of  Ilchester,  followed  the 
example.  The  estates  of  their  churches  were  not  bound, 
they  said,  to  afford  the  king  military  service  except  within 
the  four  seas;  they  would  not  furnish  it  for  foreign  war- 
fare. The  opposition  prevailed :  the  bishops  had  struck 
a  chord  which  awoke  the  baronage.  This  body  now,  to 
a  far  greater  extent  than  before,  consisted  of  men  who 
had  little  interest  in  Normandy,  were  far  more  English 
in  sympathy,  and  perhaps  also  in  blood,  than  they  had 


u 


been  under   Henry    \\.      The    occasion    is   marked   by 
another  consequence.     The  great  minister  re-     r,    . 

*  '^  Kesignation 

signed — not  perhaps  merely  on  this  account —  oi  the  Jus- 
he  had  long  been  weary  of  his  office;  the  new  ^'^'^'^' 
Pope,  Innocent  III.,  was  telling  him  that  it  was  unworthy 
of  an  archbishop  to  act  as  a  secular  judge  and  task- 
master. The  monks  of  his  cathedral  were  harassing 
him  about  the  sacrilege  involved  in  the  execution  of 
William  FitzOsbert,  whom  he  had  ordered  to  be  taken 
from  sanctuary  and  hanged ;  and  the  Roman  lawyers 
were  threatening  excommunication  if  he  did  not  pull 
down  the  grand  new  college  which  he  had  built  in  honour 
of  St.  Thomas  at  Lambeth.  He  had  had  as  much  as 
he  wanted  of  power,  and  as  much  as  he  could  bear  of 
blame.  He  therefore,  in  July  1198,  made  way  for  a  new 
justiciar,  Geoflrey  PltzPeter,  Earl  of  Essex,  Oeofrey 
who  had  no  such  scruples  of  conscience  and  I'itzi'eter. 
no  such  eccle>iiastical  embarrassments,  but  who  began 
his  administration  with  a  severe  forest  assize,  and  by  his 
general  sternness  taught  the  nation  how  good  a  friend, 
with  all  his  shortcomings,  Archbishop  Hubert  had  been. 
Geoffrey  FitzPeter  retained  his  office  for  life,  dying,  as 
will  be  seen,  at  a  critical  period  in  the  next  reign. 

During  this  time  Richard  was  engaged  in  foiling 
the  projects  of  Philip,  and  drawing  together  the  strings 
of  a  great  Continental  alliance  against  him.  Richard's 
Alternate  interviews,  battles,  treaties  or  pro-  '-^^^  years. 
jects  of  treaties,  truces  and  truce-breakings,  form  the 
history  of  years,  interesting  only  to  those  who  care  to 
follow  the  military  and  geographical  side  of  the  history. 
Philip  gains  strength  on  the  whole ;  it  would  not  be  true 
to  say  that  Richard  loses  strength,  and  he  would  pro- 
bably, if  he  had  lived,  have  completely  overwhelmed  his 
enemy.  But  still  they  were  more  on  an  equality  than 
they  had  been ;  Philip  gaining  experience  which  was  far 


128  The  Early  Plantagcnets.       a.d  1109. 

more  valuable  to  him  than  any  mere  access  of  force. 
In  1 198  Richard  made  a  great  step,  by  securing  the  crown 
of  Germany  for  his  nephew,  the  son  of  Henry 
Saxon'^y.  the   Lion  of  Saxony,  who  had  been  brought 

emperor.  ^^p  ^^  ^^  English  court,  and  was,  of  course, 
in  the  closest  alliance  with  his  benefactor.  With  Otho's 
aid  he  drew  in  all  the  Flemish  nobles  and  the  Low 
Country  Germans,  who  hated  the  Hohenstaufen,  and  so 
hated  their  ally  the  King  of  France  not  only  as  a  bad 
neighbour  but  as  an  ally  of  the  Emperor.  This  confede- 
rati'on  might  ultimately  have  been  successful  if  Richard 
had  lived  to  guide  it.  He  had  at  last  by  patient  and  for- 
giving kindness  drawn  John  from  Philip's  side ;  he  had 
c-ot  the  King  of  Scots  also  safe  under  his  influence. 

In  the  spring  of  1199  he  v/as,  as  usual,  in   appear- 
ance negotiating  a  peace,  probably  in  reality  meditating 
a  brisker  war,  when  he  heard  that  the  Viscount 
Rkhard!        of  Limoges  had  found  a  great  buried  treasure : 
"^^"  a  golden  emperor  and  all  his  court  sitting  at 

a  golden  table.  The  very  name  of  the  gold  aroused 
Richard  :  he  demanded  his  share -the  lion's  share.  The 
viscount  gave,  but  not  all.  So  the  king  besieged  his 
castles ;  and  before  one  of  them,  Chalus-Chabrol,  he  re- 
ceived a  wound  in  the  shoulder,  which  the  awkwardness 
of  the  surgeons  made  mortal  to  him.  He  lived  long 
enough  to  set  his  house  in  order.  He  left  his  jewels  to 
Otho";  John  he  declared  his  heir,  and  directed  the  barons 
to  swear  allegiance  to  him  ;  he  sent  for  his  mother  to 
receive  his  last  words  ;  he  ordered  the  man  who  had 
wounded  him  to  be  set  free,  and  declared  his  forgive- 
ness of  all  his  enemies.  Then  in  an  agony  of  penitence 
he  made  a  very  solemn  and  ver>'  sad  confession.  It  was 
said  that  he  had  not  confessed  for  seven  years,  because 
he  would  not  profess  to  be  reconciled  to  Philip;  and  he 
had  much  besides   that   to   ask    pardon  for.     After  re- 


A.D.   1 199. 


Richard  Cceur  de  L  ion. 


129 


ceiving  the  last  sacraments  he  closed  his  laborious  life 
on  the  7th  of  April,  and  was  buried  with  his  father,  by 
St.  Hugh  of  Lincoln,  in  the  abbey  church  of  Fontev- 
raud ;  a  very  strong  man,  who  knew  at  last  his  own 
need  of  mercy. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

JOHN. 

John's  succession — Arthur's  claims — Loss  of  Normandy — Quarrel 
with  the  Church— Submission  to  the  Pope — Quarrel  with  the 
Barons — The  Great  Charter  and  its  consequences — Arrival  of 
Lewis — ^John's  death. 

The  death  of  Richard  placed  John  at  last  in  the  position 
for  which  he  had  toiled  and  intrigued  so  long ;  not,  it 
is  true,  without  a  competitor,  and  that  one  john  and 
whose  claims  were  destined,  after  his  own  Arthur, 
death,  to  be  fatal  to  John's  retention  of  half  his  posses- 
sions. But  the  competitor  was  for  the  moment  in  the 
background,  and  in  England  at  least  never  gained  a  foot- 
ing or  gathered  the  semblance  of  a  party.  Arthur  was 
now  twelve  years  old  ;  his  mother,  Constance  of  Brittany, 
who  was  left  a  widow  before  he  was  born,  had  been  mar- 
ried in  the  year  of  his  birth  to  Earl  Ranulf  of  Chester, 
whom  she  disliked,  and  who,  after  having  been  married 
to  her  for  some  years,  found  himself  unable  to  manage 
her,  and,  following  the  example  of  Henry  IL,  imprisoned 
her.  She  was  an  imprudent,  probably  a  bad  woman,  as 
her  later  conduct  tends  to  show;  but  it  may  be  questioned 
whether,  in  her  management  of  her  hereditary  state  of 
Brittany,  she  went  farther  than  any  good  patriot  might 
go  in  opposition  to  the  centralising  policy  by  which 
Richard  carried  out  the  schemes  of  his  father.  Anyhow 
she  had  made  herself  the  champion  of  the  independence 

M.  H.  K 


130 


The  Early  Plantagcnets.       a.d.  1199. 


John 

secures 

Normandy 


of  Brittany,  and  so  had  imperilled  the  chances  of  her 
son's  succession  to  the  rest  of  the  inheritance.  She 
seems  to  have  been  in  constant  opposition  to  Richard, 
and  likewise  to  Eleanor,  who  alone  after  Richard's  death 
could  have  maintained  Arthur's  rights.  It  is  probably 
for  this  reason  that,  after  Richard  returned  from  the  Cru- 
sade, we  never  again  hear  of  Arthur  as  heir  ;  that  John 
therefore,  although  personally  disliked,  was  accepted  as 
an  inevitable  necessity;  and  that  Arthur,  when  he  was 
old  enough  to  act  for  himself,  ruined  his  own  cause  by 
his  wanton  attack  upon  his  grandmother. 

John  seems  to  have  known  that  England  was  safely 
his  own.  He  had  bound  the  baronage  by  oath  to  agree 
to  his  succession  as  early  as  1191  ;  he  had 
a  faithful  friend  in  the  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury, who  transferred  to  him  the  devotion 
which  he  had  always  shown  to  Richard,  and  had  con- 
sented to  become  his  chancellor.  He  was  willing  to  make 
any  sort  of  promises  to  secure  those  of  the  magnates 
w^ho  were  not  already  pledged  to  him.  He  spent,  there- 
fore, the  first  six  weeks  of  his  reign  in  France,  making 
good  his  hold  on  Normandy,  and  providing  for  the  main- 
tenance of  peace  with  Philip.  Meanwhile  he  sent  the 
archbishop  to  England,  to  smooth  his  way  there  and 
prepare  for  the  coronation. 

The  difficulties  which  Hubert  had  to  encounter  were 
not  caused  by  the  question  of  the  succession,  but  by  the 
Parties  m  attitude  of  the  great  earls,  all  of  whom  had 
England.  something  to  gain  by  the  possible  reversal  of 
that  repressive  policy  which  had  been  pursued  for  the 
last  twenty-six  years,  and  some  of  whom  had  on  former 
occasions  taken  a  leading  part  against  John,  which  he 
might  now  embrace  the  opportunity  of  avenging.  A 
reactionary  feudal  party,  a  party  of  personal  opponents, 
and  a  body  of  ambitious  self-seekers,  might  all  together, 


A.D.    1 199. 


^ohn. 


J 


131 


if  they  had  taken  up  Arthur's  cause,  have  given  John 
much  trouble ;  but  they  contented  themselves,  as  it  was, 
with  stating  their  grievances,  and  the  archbishop  was 
empowered  to  make  any  concessions  that  would  appease 
them.     The  state  of  the  country  was  not  so  peaceful  as 
it  had  been  during  the  last  interregnum.     The  disturbers 
of  public  order  took  advantage  of  the  attitude  of  the 
earls  to  plunder  and  ravage ;  but  the  strong  arm  of  the 
justiciar  avenged  what  he  could  not  prevent,  and,  after 
a  formal  debate  held  between  Hubert  and  the  earls  at 
Northampton,  peace  was  restored  and  the  promises  of 
John  accepted  as  conclusive  at  all  events  for  the  present. 
On  Ascension-day  accordingly  he  presented  himself 
at  Westminster,  and  was  there  chosen,   anointed,   and 
consecrated  with  great  splendour.     On  this    John's 
occasion  the  ancient  doctrine  of  election  to     coronation. 
the  crown  was  vindicated  in  word  and  deed.     Matthew 
Paris,  the  historian  of  this  and  the  next  reign,  a  writer 
who  hated  John  with   inveterate  hatred,  and  who   has 
therefore  been  suspected  of  having  inserted  in  his  work 
some   things   which   never  took   place,  has  put  in   the 
mouth  of  the  archbishop  a  somewhat  elaborate  speech, 
in   which   he   declares   that   the   crown   of    England   is 
elective  rather  than  hereditary,  and  that  John's  title  to 
the  succession  lies  in  the  fact  that  he  has  been  chosen 
king,  as  the  first  and  strongest  and  most  famous  of  the 
royal  house.     That  some  declaration  of  the  kind  was 
made  is  certain,  for  it   is  quoted  by   Lewis  of   France 
in  the  manifesto  issued  when  he  landed  in  England  in 
1216;  but  the  historian  draws  suspicion  upon  his  own 
account  of  it  by  saying  that  Hubert  had  a  prophetic  fore- 
sight in  doing  this;  that  he  foresaw  John's  misrule  and 
insisted  on  his  elective  title  as  one  that  might  be  set  aside 
hereafter.     But  in  whatever  terms  the  fact  of  the  election 
was  stated,  and  whether  the  claim  of  Arthur  was  denied 


K  2 


^32 


The  Early  Plaittagenets.        a.d.  1199. 


John. 


133 


or  passed  over  in  silence,  it  is  important  as  showing  the 
accepted  doctrine  of  election  in  the  thirteenth  century. 
Arthur,  according  to  the  principles  of  inheritance  of  fiefs, 
as  they  were  now  admitted  in  England,  was  clearly  his 
uncle's  heir.  The  election  of  John  was,  and  perhaps  was 
understood  to  be,  a  recurrence  to  the  older  rule  by  which 
the  national  choice  of  a  king  was  directed  to  the  ablest 
or  eldest  or  most  prominent  member  of  the  royal  house. 

Although  we  have  a  detailed  account  of  John's  coro- 
nation we  find  no  mention  of  a  charter,  such  as  Henr}'  II. 
Coronation  ^nd  Stephen  had  issued.  Richard  had  not 
o^^^-  issued  one,  but  had  contented  himself  with 

the  three  strong  promises  included  in  the  coronation 
oath — to  defend  the  Church,  to  maintain  justice,  and  to 
make  good  laws,  abolishing  evil  customs.  John  did  the 
same ;  and,  as  the  oath  was  again  required  of  him  after 
his  reconciliation  with  Langton  in  J213,  we  may  with- 
out hesitation  infer  that  no  charter  was  granted  at  the 
coronation. 

The  history  of  John's  reign  may  conveniently  be 
arranged  in  three  divisions,  which  fall  into  a  nearly 
Arrange  chronological  scqucnce ;  first,  the  foreign  re- 

ment  of  the  lations,  including  the  war  with  Philip,  the  fate 
c  apter.  ^^  Arthur,  and  the  loss  of   Normandy;    se- 

condly, the  dispute  with  the  clergy,  and  the  interdict  and 
submission  to  Rome ;  and  thirdly,  the  events  that  led  to 
and  flowed  from  the  granting  of  Magna  Carta.  In  each 
of  these  divisions  of  our  period  we  find  certain  persons 
coming  to  the  front  as  the  mainstay  of  John's  power, 
at  whose  death  that  power,  in  one  region  or  another, 
seems  at  once  to  suffer  collapse.  Of  these  the  first  is  his 
Queen  mother,  the  great  source  and  prop  of  his  Con- 

Eleanor.  tinctttal  position.  Of  her  character  enough 
has  been  said  already ;  her  better  points  come  out  most 
strongly   in   her    old   age,   when   we   see   her,   between 


1 


- 


A.D.    II99. 

seventy  and  eighty  years  old,  running  about  from  one 
end  of  Europe  to  another  to  patch  up  truces,  to  make 
peaces,  and  to  close  wars  which  sprang  mainly  out  of 
her  own  levity  and  intriguing  of  half  a  century  past. 
She  had  engaged  in  a  lifelong  quarrel  with  her  first 
husband  in  11 50,  and  with  her  second  in  1 173;  now 
in  1200  she  fetches  a  granddaughter  of  the  second  to 
marry  the  grandson  of  the  first,  as  a  pledge  of  harmony 
between  the  sons  of  the  two.  John's  fortunes  are  not 
wholly  hopeless  until  he  loses  his  mother. 

Richard's  unexpected  death  occurred  during  a  nego- 
tiation for  peace  with  Philip ;  and  John  succeeded  at  once, 
just  as  Richard  himself  had  done,  to  the  whole     Arthur's 
accumulation  of  dynastic  and  territorial  griev-    ciaims^in 
ances,  which  had  been  mounting  up  for  fifty 
years ;  with  the  addition  of  Arthur's  claims,  which  gave 
Philip  the  opportunity  of  interfering  in  every  possible 
question.     Before  the  coronation  these  claims  had  been 
raised ;   Philip  had  determined  to  be  beforehand,  and  had 
seized  the  city  of  Evreux  on  the  receipt  of  the  news  of 
Richard's  death.    At  the  same  moment  the  barons  of 
Anjou,  Maine,  and  Touraine  had  declared  Arthur  their 
count,  and    Constance   had    delivered   him   bodily   into 
Philip's  keeping.  John,  in  revenge  for  this,  had  destroyed 
the  walls  and  imprisoned  the  citizens  of  le  Mans,  which 
he  regarded  as  the  stronghold  of  Arthur's  party.     He  re- 
turned to  Normandy  directly  after  the  coronation,  on  June 
20,  and  made  a  truce  with  Philip  for  two  months,  during 
which  Philip  accepted  Arthur's  homage  for  all  the  Con- 
tinental estates  of  the  family  and  constituted  himself  his 
champion.     Immediately  on  the  expiration  of  the  truce 
the  kings  met  again,  and  Philip  then  proposed  by  way 
of  compromise  that  John  should  retain  Normandy,  and 
Arthur  have  the  remaining  states,  Philip  himself  receiv- 
ing the  Vexin  as  a  remuneration  for  his  good  offices  in 


134 


TJie  Early  Plantagcnets.        a.d.  1200. 


thus  arbitrating.  John  refused  this,  and  war  broke  out 
again,  in  which  Phihp  showed  himself  so  much  more 
anxious  for  his  own  interest  than  for  Arthur's  that  the 
unhappy  boy  allowed  himself  to  be  removed  from  Philip's 
protection  and  placed  under  John's,  He  discovered  his 
mistake,  however,  almost  instantly,  and  fled  from  his 
uncle's  court  to  Angers,  in  company  with  his  mother, 
who  took  the  opportunity  of  finally  breaking  with  the 
Earl  of  Chester,  and,  without  waiting  for  a  divorce, 
bestowed  herself  in  marriage  on  Guy,  a  brother  of  the 
Viscount  of  Thouars. 

Upon  this  John  and  Philip  made  a  fresh  truce  which 
grew  into  a  peace,  by  which  Arthur's  interests  were 
Peace  finally  sacrificed,  and  which  was  cemented  by 

'lohn^and  ^^  marriage  of  Blanche  of  Castille,  John's 
Philip,  1200.  niece,  to  Lewis,  the  son  and  heir  of  Philip. 
This  was  accomplished  in  May  1200.  Philip's  matri- 
monial difficulties,  which  arose  from  his  wanton  repudia- 
tion of  his  second  wife,  Ingeburga  of  Denmark,  exposed 
him  at  the  time  to  a  threat  of  interdict,  and  he  probably 
thought  it  wise  not  to  have  both  John  and  Innocent  III. 
arrayed  against  him  at  once.  John,  seeing  the  marriage 
laws  practically  in  abeyance,  had  taken  advantage  of  the 
objection  which  had  been  raised  by  Archbishop  Baldwin 
to  his  marriage,  and  released  himself  from  his  wife, 
John's  Hawisia  of  Gloucester,  on  the  ground  of  re- 

mamage.  lationship.  Now,  inspired  either  by  love  or 
territorial  covetousness,  he  married  Isabella,  the  child- 
heiress  of  the  Count  of  Angouleme.  This  marriage 
offended,  on  the  one  side  of  the  Channel,  Hugh  of  la 
Marche,  who  was  betrothed  to  her,  and  on  the  other  side 
the  great  kinsmen  of  the  house  of  Gloucester,  and  the 
lady  Hawisia  herself,  who  subsequently  married  Geoffrey 
de  Mandeville,  one  of  the  bitterest  of  John's  enemies. 

The  peace  did  not  last  longer  than  Philip's  domestic 


f 


Jl 


^ 


X 


A.D.    I20I-5. 


JoJin. 


135 


difficulties,  which  came  to  an  end  on  his  consenting  to 
receive  back  Ingeburga.     Mischief  began  in  1201,  both  on 
the  Norman  frontier,  where  Hugh  de  Gournay     Forfeiture 
plaved  fast  and  loose  between  the  kings,  and     of  Nor- 

"     '  •      J    1  mandy. 

in  Poictou,  where  the  barons  were  excited  by 
the  Count  of  la  Marche  to  rebel  against  the  severe  re- 
pression exercised  by  John.  The  next  year  Philip  sum- 
moned courage  to  call  John  before  his  court  of  the  peers 
of  France  to  answer  the  charges  of  the  Poictevins,  and 
on  his  non-appearance  declared  him  to  have  forfeited  his 
fiefs.  Arthur,  who  was  now  fifteen,  and  who  had  lost  his 
mother  the  year  before,  thought  that  this  was  his  oppor- 
tunity. He  mustered  his  forces  and  attempted  to  seize 
the  old  queen  Eleanor  in  the  castle  of  Mirabel.  Instead 
of  taking  her  he  was  defeated  and  captured  by  John,  who 
imprisoned  him,  and  in  whose  hands  he  died.  Death  of 
how  we  know  not,  on  April  3,  1203.  Philip  ^•■^''"'• 
did  not  hesitate  to  declare  John  the  boy's  murderer;  he 
held  another  court  upon  him,  and  again  sentenced  him  to 
forfeiture.  This  time  he  undertook  the  execution  of  the 
sentence  himself.  He  invaded  Normandy,  and  took  city 
after  city.  John  did  not  raise  a  hand  in  its  defence,  and 
quitted  the  duchy  finally  in  November.  The  lo^sof 
next  year,  1204,  saw  Anjou  and  the  rest  of  ^^^^^^^^ 
the  patrimony  in  Philip's  hands ;  the  loss  of 
most  of  Guienne  followed.  Eleanor  died  on  April  i, 
1204,  and  on  her  death  John's  cause  became  hopeless. 
He  did  little  or  nothing  to  redeem  it.  In  1206  he  tried 
to  recover  Poictou,  but  was  obliged  to  purchase  a  truce 
by  resigning  his  claims  on  the  northern  provinces ;  and 
in  1 2 14,  as  a  part  of  a  general  scheme  of  attack  upon 
Philip,  in  which  he  had  the  support  of  Flanders  and  the 
Empire,  he  made  another  expedition,  but  it  also  ended 
in  a  truce  by  which  some  small  fragments  of  Eleanor's 
inheritance  were  preserved  to  her  grandchildren. 


136 


The  Early  Plantagcnets.        a.d.  1205. 


Thus  then,  after  a  union  of  a  hundred  and  forty 
years,  Normandy  was  separated  from  England.  Dur- 
Separation  ing  a  portion  of  those  years, — the  reigns  of 
fnd^No'r'^  William  Rufus  and  part  of  that  of  Henry  I., 
mandy.  — they  had  been  under  different  rulers,  but 

they  had  been  administered  on  the  same  principles  and 
for  the  same  interest  all  the  time.  The  English  had 
been  ruled  by  Norman  lords;  their  laws,  institutions, 
customs,  had  been  remodelled  under  Norman  influences. 
But  they  had  grown  under  and  through  the  discipline. 
So  far  as  English  and  Normans  united,  the  Norman 
element  gave  strength,  order,  discipline  to  the  English ; 
so  far  as  they  were  in  opposition  the  Norman  tyranny 
had  called  forth  in  the  English  patience,  perseverance, 
and  a  sense  of  nationality  which  they  had  not  shown 
before.  The  people  had  had  to  make  common  cause 
with  the  king  against  the  Norman  feudalism,  and  they 
had  done  this  until  their  support  became  absolutely 
necessary  to  the  royal  power.  Gradually  the  baronage 
were  learning  the  like  lesson ;  disciplined  and  educated 
under  the  royal  training,  they  were  finding  that  they 
were  one  in  interest  with  the  people;  and  that,  as  the 
royal  power  was  becoming  too  great  for  either,  the  two 
might  in  time  combine  10  curb  it.  They  were  becom- 
ing themselves  more  English — more  English  perhaps 
in  blood,  more  English  in  the  possession  of  English 
lands  and  by  the  gradual  devolution  of  Norman  lands 
into  other  hands ;  ready  to  be  quite  English  when  once 
they  lost  their  Norman  incumbrances.  So  when  the 
time  came  for  the  barons  who  had  lands  in  both  coun- 
tries to  make  their  choice  between  John  and  Philip,  the 
division  was  effected  with  little  noise  and  less  trouble. 
The  Norman  barons  and  prelates  gave  up  their  English 
lands,  and  the  English — for  henceforth  these  have  a 
right  to  the  name  of  English — barons  and  prelates  gave 


A.D.  1205. 


John. 


137 


X 


k 


4 


X 


T 


up  their  Norman  lands.  There  was  very  little  internal 
division  in  Normandy  itself,  and  Walter  of  Coutances, 
who  had  been  Richard's  prime  minister  and  justiciar, 
died  a  contented  subject  of  Philip.  The  separation  did 
much  for  England.  Henceforth  the  king  is  mainly  if  not 
solely  King  of  England,  and  the  welfare  of  England  the 
main  if  not  the  sole  object  of  English  counsels.  It  was 
Normandy  that,  by  the  exchange  of  masters,  lost  the 
share  of  the  benefits  won  from  John.  Yet  Normand)- 
was  for  ages  freer  than  the  rest  of  France,  in  conse- 
quence of  her  early  discipline  under  the  house  of  Rollo, 
one  part  of  which  was  the  policy  which  made  her  run 
in  harness  with  the  English  people.  Ikit  to  detail  all 
the  benefits  of  the  separation  would  be  to  anticipate 
very  much  of  the  later  history. 

No  sooner  was  Normandy  lost  than  John's  ecclesias- 
tical troubles  began;  and  they  began  in  the  most  dan- 
gerous way,  for  the  very  event  that  caused  them  robbed 
him  of  the  only  counsellor  he  had  who  could  have  guided 
him  safely  through  them.  Hubert  Walter,  the  j^^j^jh  of 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury — whose  career  we    Hubert 

Walter 

have  traced  first  as  a  chaplain  to  Henry  II., 
then  as  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  counsellor,  captain,  and 
chaplain  to  the  third  Crusade  ;  then  as  Chief  Justiciar 
of  England,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  legate,  mak- 
ing laws  and  canons,  leading  armies,  administering  justice, 
collecting  taxes,  under  Richard  ;  and  lastly,  acting  as 
Chancellor  to  John  from  the  coronation  to  his  death — 
Hubert  Walter  died  on  July  12,  1205. 

The  appointment  to  the  archbishopric  had  been  for 
many  years  a  vexed  question.  The  monks  of  Christ 
Church,  Canterbury,  claimed  the  right  of  free  disputed 
election  ;  they  were  the  chapter  of  the  cathe- 
dral, and  had  the  same  right  as  any  other 
chapter  to  elect  their  prelate.     It  was  a  right  that  was 


election  at 
Canterbury. 


138 


The  Early  Plajitagenets. 


A.D.  1205. 

distinctly  recognised  by  the  canon  law,  had  been  granted 
by  Stephen's  charter,  and  had  been  so  far  made  good 
at  each  change  in  the  primacy  that  certain  forms  of 
election  by  them  had  been  required  as  needful  to  the 
validity  of  the  appointment.  But  the  bishops  of  the 
province  of  Canterbury,  whose  chief  and  judge  the 
archbishop  was,  also  claimed  a  right  in  the  election, 
partly  on  mere  grounds  of  equity,  but  partly  also  on 
the  ground  of  a  prescription  which,  based  on  the  pre- 
cedent of  the  Anglo-Saxon  councils,  had  given  them 
an  active  influence  on  each  occasion  since  the  reign  of 
Henry  I.  And  besides  these  the  king  had  his  right; 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbur\-  was  his  chief  constitu- 
tional counsellor,  the  counsellor  of  whom  he  could  not 
rid  himself  without  breaking  at  once  with  religion  and 
state  custom.  The  king  had  generally  since  the  Con- 
quest nominated  the  archbishop,  sometimes  with  and 
sometimes  without  the  co-operation  of  the  other  two 
bodies,  but  always  practically  by  his  own  fiat :  and  the 
pacification  between  Henry  I.  and  Anselm  had  con- 
tained an  admission  that  the  homage  of  the  archbishop 
elect  to  the  king  was  necessary  to  the  full  right  to  ex- 
ercise his  constitutional  power.  Usually,  however,  as 
was  generally  done  where  the  canon  law  and  national  law 
ran  counter  or  overlapped  one  another,  the  end  in  view 
was  secured  by  adroit  management,  saving  the  rights  of 
each  party  for  the  time.  The  quarrel  on  this  occasion 
began  with  the  monks  of  Canterbury. 

This  famous  convent,  which  deserves  on  more  than 
one  occasion  credit  for  having  set  a  courageous  example 
Election  of  °^  Opposition  to  tyranny,  was  a  very  ambitious 
and  disorderly  body ;  and  just  at  this  moment, 
having  compelled  Archbishop  Hubert  to  pull 
down  his  grand  new  church  at  Lambeth,  they,  or  a  part 
of  them,  were  quite  intoxicated  with  conceit.      It  was 


A.D.  1206. 


John. 


139 


the  sub- 
prior 


f 


always  a  great  object  with  them  to  have  a  monk  for 
archbishop ;  such  a  leader  would  extend  their  privi- 
leges and  foster  their  ideas  of  independence.  So  now, 
during  the  night  following  Huberts  death,  the  younger 
monks — no  doubt  a  majority  of  the  body— elected  the 
sub-prior,  Reginald,  as  archbishop,  and,  without  asking 
the  roval  consent,  sent  him  off  at  once  to  Rome  to  ask 
for  the  archiepiscopal  pall  and  consecration.  No  sooner 
had  Reginald  crossed  the  Channel  than,  forgetting  the 
promise  of  secrecy  with  which  his  electors  had  bound 
him,  he  gave  out  that  he  was  the  new  archbishop,  and 
the  news  came  back  to  England. 

John  was  very  angr)-;  he  had  intended  his  minister 
John  de  Gray,  Bishop  of  Nor^vich,  to  be  Hubert's  suc- 
cessor ;  the  bishops  were  angry  because  their  domination 
prescriptive  and  equitable  right  was  disre-  of  John  de 
garded ;  the  senior  monks  were  angry  because 
they  had  been  betrayed  by  the  juniors,  and  the  juniors 
because  Reginald  by  his  imprudent  vanity  had  caused 
the  premature  discovery  of  their  schemes.  So  all  parties 
appealed  to  the  Pope;  and  John,  without  waiting  to  hear 
what  became  of  the  appeal,  had  his  nominee  elected  and 
put  in  possession  of  the  estates  of  the  see. 

We  can  hardly  doubt  that,  if  John  had  had  an  adviser 
like  Hubert,  he  might  have  tided  over  the  difficuhy,  but 
now  he  plunged  deeper  and  deeper,  and  at     conductor 
last  lost  his  footing  altogether.     The  Pope  let     innocent 
the  appeals  drag  on  their  weary  length.     He 
sufifered  all  the  contending  bodies  to  spend  their  strength 
and  their  money,  and  to  involve  and  compromise  them- 
selves as  much  as  they  chose.     Then  after  a  year  and  a 
half  he  decided  the  cause.     The  bishops,  he  said,  had  no 
standing-ground ;  the  canonical  electors  were  the  monks 
of  the  chapter.      The   sub-prior   Reginald   was  rejected 
because  he  had  not  been  canonically  chosen ;  John  de 


I40 


The  Early  Plaiitagencts. 


A.D.    1207. 


A.  I).    1208-13. 


John. 


14T 


Gray  was  rejected  because  he  had  been  elected  whilst  an 
appeal  was  pending.     The  course  was,  therefore,  clear. 
The  monks  were  the  electors ;  their  proctors,  now  at  the 
Court  of  Rome,  had  full  power  from  them  to  elect,  and 
the  king  had  promised  to  confirm  their  choice,  having 
secretly  agreed  with  them  to  elect  only  John  de  Gray ;  for 
thus  he  had  tried  to  impose  on  the  Pope,  sending  at  the 
same  time  large  sums  of  money  to  clear  the  eyes  of  the 
Pope's  advisers.     Innocent  III.,  however,  was  very  wide- 
awake, and  John's  insincerity  had  put  his  game  in  his 
own  hands.     It  was  of  no  use,  he  said,  to  waste  time. 
If  they  all  went  back  to  England  they  would  have  to 
come  to  Rome  again  for  the  confirmation  of  the  election 
and  the  gift  of  the  pall.     They  all  had  full  powers— why 
should  it  not  be  done  pleasantly  and  on  the  spot.^     He 
had  a  man  fit  for  the  place— an  Englishman,  the  first 
scholar  of  the  day,  a  cardinal,  in  whose  favour  John  had 
more  than  once  written  to  him  on  other  occasions ;  let 
them  elect  him,  he  would  confirm  and  consecrate  him, 
and  then  all  would  be  done.     Whether  Innocent  really 
Consecra-        expected  that  John  would  submit  to  this  we 
cannot   say;    probably   not.     But  he   did   it. 
Only  one    of   the   monks   objected,  and  re- 
minded his  brethren  of  their  obligation  to  the 
king ;  the  rest,  relying  on  their  powers  from  the  king  and 
convent,  and  overawed  by  the  dignity  and  urgency  of 
Innocent,  elected  Langton.     Innocent  immediately  wrote 
to  John  to  report  the  decision  and  ask  him  to  receive 
Langton   as   archbishop.      John   was   furious  —  refused, 
threatened,  and  blustered.     The  Pope,  in  reply,  declared 
that  he  had   done  no  more  than  was  his  duty  to  the 
widowed   Church,  and,  in   June  1207,  consecrated   the 
archbishop. 

John  was  obdurate  :  proposal  after  proposal  was  made, 
offer  after  offer ;  letter  followed  letter,  embassy  followed 


tion  of 
Stephen 
Langton, 
1207. 


I 


embassy.  John  seized  the  possessions  of  the  convent  ot 
Christ  Church  and  threatened  to  wreak  vengeance  on  the 
monks.  Then  the  Pope  answered  threat  with  The  inter- 
threat :  if  John  did  not  receive  the  archbishop  ^'<^''  ^2°^- 
the  kingdom  must  be  laid  under  interdict.  It  would  then 
be  unlawful  to  perform  the  services  of  the  Church,  the 
dead  would  be  unburied,  the  sacraments  would  cease  to 
be  administered,  or  would  be  celebrated  only  in  private  ; 
the  people  would  be  forced  by  the  want  of  spiritual  ne- 
cessaries to  compel  the  king  to  compliance.  Still  he  held 
out,  and  in  March  1208  the  interdict  was  proclaimed. 
He  then  declared  that  he  would  be  avenged  on  the 
bishops  ;  many  of  them  fled,  and  he  seized  their  lands. 
Again,  after  a  while,  negotiations  were  resumed.  Lang- 
ton came  to  Dover  to  meet  the  king,  but  John  would 
not  face  him.  The  Pope  threatened  personal  excom- 
munication ;  if  that  were  not  effective,  it  should  be  fol- 
lowed by  a  Bull  of  deposition  and  the  absolution  of  the 
English  from  their  obedience.  If  that  were  done,  the 
execution  of  the  sentence  would  be  committed  to  one 
who  would  be  only  too  glad  to  add  England  to  his  do- 
minions, and  to  gratify  the  hatred  that  he  had  nursed  for 
so  many  years,  even  to  Philip  of  France,  the  conqueror 
of  Normandy  and  Anjou. 

For  a  long  time  John  showed  himself  impenetrable. 
He  was  quite  content  that  his  people  should  be  deprived 
of  the  sacraments,  that  the  clergy  should  be  John's 
exiled,  that  the  whole  administration  of  the  obduracy. 
country  should  be  paralysed,  almost  as  it  had  been  in  the 
days  of  Stephen.  Even  the  terrors  of  personal  excom- 
munication had  been  too  lavishly  used  of  late  to  make 
much  impression,  for  Philip  had  thriven  under  the  anger 
of  Innocent,  and  John  had  at  this  very  moment  his 
nephew,  the  Emperor  Otho,  a  partner  in  the  tribulation. 
The   threat   of  deposition  might  be  a  mere  threat ;   it 


\ 


142 


The  Early  PI antagencts.       a.d.  12 13. 


would  be  very  strange  if  the  Pope  should  prefer  the  King 
of  France  to  the  King  of  England  ;  and,  if  he  did,  John 
had  a  great  army  and  fleet  and  treasure. 

But  if  he  thought  that  Innocent  III.  would  be  swayed 
either  by  the  ordinary  motives  of  Popes  or  by  the  ordi- 
Persistence  i^'^^O'  ^i""^^  of  policy,  he  was  much  mistaken, 
of  Innocent.  That  great  Pope  had  set  before  himself  a 
grand  purpose  of  righteousness  as  it  appeared  to  him  ; 
he  was  ready  to  set  up  the  Hohenstaufen  again  and  to 
depress  the  Welf,  and  to  set  Philip,  the  ally  of  the  Hohen- 
staufen, and  the  husband  of  Ingeburga,  above  the  other 
kings  of  the  West,  if  he  could  gain  his  object.  Innocent 
persisted.  His  legates  openly  warned  John  what  the 
result  would  be  if  the  sentence  of  deposition  were  to 
issue;  and  their  words  came  true.  John  found  or  fan- 
Panic  of  cied  himself  involved  in  a  web  of  conspiracy  ; 
John.  warnings  reached  him  from  Wales  and  Scot- 

land that  his  enemies  were  intriguing  all  around  him, 
that  he  and  his  children  would  be  put  out  of  the  throne 
and  a  new  race  of  kings  brought  in.  Then  arose  Peter 
of  Wakefield  and  prophesied  that  on  the  next  Ascension- 
day  John  should  be  a  king  no  more.  Then  came  the 
news  that  Philip  was  equipping  his  fleet.  So  the  man 
whom  neither  spiritual  nor  temporal  weapons  could  bring 
to  submission,  moved  by  the  prophecy  of  an  impostor, 
lowered  his  flag  and  made  the  most  abject  submission 
that  any  king  of  the  English  has  ever  made. 

On  the  13th  of  May,  12 13,  he  met  Pandulf,  the  Pope's 
subdeacon  and  envoy,  at  Ewell,  near  Dover,  and  swore 
fealty  to  the  Pope ;  he  consented  at  last  to  receive  Lang- 
ton,  to  restore  the  bishops  and  the  monks  of  Canter- 
bury, and  indemnify  them  for  their  wrongs:  he  would 
do  all  that  was  asked  of  him,  hold  his  kingdoms  as 
fiefs  of  the  Apostolic  see  and  pay  tribute  for  them. 

1  he  barons  and  people  looked  on  in  amazed  acquies- 


\\. 


A.IX    I213. 


John. 


143 


-i 

I 
^ 


'' 


cence ;  they  did  not,  it  would  seem,  all  at  once  realise  the 
shame  of  the  transaction,  or  see  that  for  them  to  be  vas- 
sals of  the  Pope's  vassal  was  to  sink  a  long  step  in  the 
scale  of  freedom,  whether  political  or  ecclesiastical.  They 
acquiesced,  some  gladly  welcoming  any  solution  of  the 
difficulty,  some,  we  are  told,  with  grief  and  shame.  And 
so  that  part  of  the  drama  of  the  reign  ends. 

John  made  friends  with  the  Pope;  but  the  struggle  had 
thrown  the  Church  into  an  attitude  of  opposition  to  the 
crown  in  which  she  had  never  stood  since  the  Political 
Conquest.  It  was  a  providential  determination,  ''*=s"'^- 
by  which  the  clergy— who,  with  the  people,  had  hitherto 
supported  the  royal  power  against  the  barons — were,  just 
at  the  moment  that  the  royal  power  was  becoming  dan- 
gerous, dislodged  from  the  side  of  the  crown  and  almost 
compelled  to  make  common  cause  with  the  baronial 
party  and  the  people ;  awaking  all  at  once  to  the  need 
of  common  action,  mutual  forbearance,  and  the  sense 
of  national  unity.  Such  was  the  effect  of  the  struggle. 
Henceforth  the  Church  in  union  with  the  barons  and 
the  people  helps  to  limit  the  power  which  in  the  earlier 
days  she  had  striven  to  strengthen. 

But  the  very  moment  that  closes  the  ecclesiastical 
quarrel  begins  a  new  one — the  baronial  quarrel,  which 
opens  the  way  for  the  vindication  of  national     r^^^ 
liberty  and  the  consolidation  of  constitutional     baronial 
life,  as  typified  by  Magna  Carta.     To  realise    ^^^^^ ' 
this  we  must  glance  back  for  a  moment  to  the  beginning 
of  the  reign,  and  recur  to  the  negotiations  which  Arch- 
bishop Hubert  had  had  with  the  earls  before  he  obtained 
their  consent  to  receive  John  as  king,  and  the  promise 
he  had  made  that  all  their  lawful  demands  should  be 
satisfied.      What   those    demands   were   we   cannot   tell 
exactly ;  probably  they  wanted  the  custody  of  their  own 
castles  and  some  other   privileges  of  which   they   had 


144 


The  Early  Plantagencts. 


A.D.  1213, 


A.D.    1213. 


i 


been  deprived  by  the  strong  government  of  the  late  king, 
for  he  had  no  doubt  availed  himself  of  every  plea  to  re- 
strict their  forest  privileges  and  perhaps  to  extend  the 
royal  right  of  wardship.     It  is  from  Magna  Carta  itself, 
rather  than  from  the  historians  who  have  told  the  story' 
that  we  gather  the  nature  of  their  grievances.     The  pro- 
mises made  at  Northampton   in   11 99  had   never  been 
fulfilled;  in  1201,  when  the  earls  repeated  their  demands 
John  replied  by  laying  his  hands  on  their  castles  and  by 
compelling  them   to  surrender  their  heirs  as  pledges  of 
their  good  behaviour.     Matters  had  after  that  gone  on 
from  bad  to  worse.     Not  content  with  insisting  on  the 
feudal  service  of  the  knights,  he  had  increased  the  rates  of 
carucage  and  scutage,  the  two  great  imposts  that  affected 
the  land,  and  multiplied  the  occasions  of  the  exaction 
Year  after  year  he  had  collected  his  forces  as  if  for  a 
French  war,  had  brought  them  to  the  coast  at  great  ex- 
pense, and  then  exacted  money  from  the  barons  as  the 
price  of  their  discharge.     He  had  not  led  them  to  battle  • 
he  had  let  Normandy  fall  out  of  his  hands,  he  had  spoiled 
them  and  put  them  to  shame,  implicating  them  in  his  own 
cowardice.  Year  after  year  taxation  increased,  whilst  the 
king  and  the  kingdom  became  more  really  helpless ;  for 
all  Englishmen  hated  his  hosts  of  mercenaries,  and  dis- 
trusted his  project  of  creating  a  fleet  which,  far  more  than 
any  national  army,  would  be  at  his  own  absolute  disposal 
And  this  went  on  until,  in  1207,  he  began  to  plunder  the 
clergy,  thus  giving  a  respite  to  the  people  and  the  barons. 
Whilst  the  king  could  maintain  himself  by  confiscation 
and  plunder  of  the  clergy  he  abstained  from  confisca- 
tion and  plunder  of  the  laity ;  and  this  partlv  accounts  for 
the  equanimity  with  which  the  interdict  was  borne.    Men 
acquiesced  in  the  loss  of  their  religious  rights  so  long  as 
they  were  in  a  manner  compensated  by  immunity  from 
taxation.     The  interdict,  too,  paralysed  national  action 


John. 


f 


.^ 


JL 


145 


John  was  unable  to  conduct  anything  like  a  great  war  as 
long  as  that  blight  lay  upon  the  land ;  he  could  attack 
Wales  or  Ireland  or  Scotland,  but  he  could  not  attack 
France,  under  the  circumstances;   and  he  was  not  by 
any  means  idle  now,  what  few  military  successes  he  did 
achieve  being  won  against  the  Irish.     For  the  nation  this 
state  of  inactivity  was  less  destructive,  less  expensive 
than  war.     So,  until  the  crisis  of  12 13  came,  the  barons 
sat  still ;  they  had  no  eminent  leader ;  Geoffrey  FitzPeter, 
the  man  in  whom  as  a  statesman  they  had  the  most 
confidence,  was  the  king's  prime  minister  and  justiciar. 
This,  then,  was  the  state  of  things  when  the  pacification 
at  Ewell  put  an  end  to  the  national  paralysis,  promised 
the  restoration  of  the  Church,  a  successful  resistance  to 
Philip,  and  possibly  a  recovery  of  the  royal  inheritance 
across  the  Channel. 

The  first  token  of  the  new  life  immediately  showed 
itself.  It  was  necessary  that  some  delay  should  take 
place  before  the  interdict  was  taken  off.     Bv     r.  . 

4.u«  „    •       •    1  /•   1  1        •     •  ,  Refusal  of 

the  principles  of  law  the  injured  persons  must     the  barons 
be  replaced  in  their  rights   before  the  con-     ^°^^"'^- 
straining  measures  could  be  suspended.     Langton  must 
be  received  before  the  king  was  absolved,  the  bishops 
must  be  indemnified  for  their  losses  before  the  interdict 
could  be  relaxed.     John  did  not  see  this ;  he  knew  that 
Philip  was  preparing  for  an  invasion ;  he  demanded  the 
feudal  support  of  his  vassals   for  a    French  war;    they 
replied  that  they  would  not  serve  under  an  excommuni- 
cated king.    John  was  provoked,  but  obliged  to  wait.    In 
July  Langton  landed,  came  to  Winchester  and  absolved 
the  king,  exacting  from  him  an  oath  to  observe  the  pro- 
mises made  at  his  coronation,  to  maintain  good  laws  and 
abolish  evil  customs.     John,  now  absolved,  renewed  his 
command  to  the  barons,  and  they  declined  to  join  in  an 
expedition  which  took  them  away  from  England.   Within 

M.H.  I 


I   41 


.* 


146 


Tke  Early  Plantagenets.       a.d.  121; 


John's 
journey  to 
the  North. 


the  four  seas  they  would  serve,  as  bound  by  their  tenure, 
but  abroad  they  would  not  go.     They  did  not  trust  the 
king  or  believe  that  it  was  possible  to  recover  Normandy. 
John  was  savagely  wroth.     Time  was  being  lost.     Philip 
was  gaining  strength.    True,  his  fleet  had  been  destroyed, 
and  the  Pope  had  withdrawn  his  commission,  but  there 
were  abundant  causes  of  enmity,  and  at  last  perhaps  the 
desire  of  revenge  was  uppermost.     But  John  always  re- 
venged his  wrongs  on  the  guiltless  and  neutral ;  he  deter- 
mined, whilst  his  ministers  were  arranging  for 
the  suspension  of  the  interdict,  to  go  into  the 
North  of  England  and  punish  the  barons,  for 
they  were  chiefly  the  Northern  barons  who  had  refused 
to  follow  him.     He  set  off  at  full  speed,  and  Langton 
after  him,  to  persuade  him  to  let  the  matter  be  settled  by 
the  lawyers.     At  Northampton  the  archbishop  overtook 
him  and  convinced  him  of  the  folly  of  his  threats ;  he 
went  north,  however,  as  far  as  Durham,  and  then  re- 
turned rapidly  to  London,  where  in  the  month  of  October 
he  met  the  papal  legate  Bishop  Nicolas  of  Tusculum,  who 
had  come  to  receive  his  formal  homage,  and  did  homage 
to  him  as  the  Pope's  representative. 

During  this  hasty  journey  to  Durham  and  back  events 
ever  memorable  in  English  histor\'  had  taken  place.  On 
eai  to  ^^^  4^^  °^  August  the  justiciar  Geoffrey  Fitz- 
the  laws  of  Peter  held  a  great  assembly  at  St.  Albans,  at 
Henry  I.  ^yhich  attended  not  only  the  great  barons  of 
the  realm  but  the  representatives  of  the  people  of  the 
townships  of  all  the  royal  estates.  The  object  of  the 
gathering  was  to  determine  the  sum  due  to  the  bishops 
as  an  indemnity  for  their  losses.  There  no  doubt  the 
commons  and  the  barons  had  full  opportunity  of  dis- 
cussing their  grievances,  and  the  justiciar  undertook,  in 
the  name  of  his  master,  that  the  laws  of  Henry  I.  should 
be  put  in  force.     Not  that  they  knew  much  about  the 


/, 


A.D.    1 2 14. 


JoJui. 


^A7 


laws  of  Henry  I.,  but  that  the  prevailing  abuses  were 
regarded  as  arising  from  the  strong  governmental  system 
consolidated  by  Henry  II.,  and  they  recurred  to  the  state 
of  things  which  preceded  that  reign,  just  as  under  Henry 
I.  men  had  recurred  to  the  reign  and  laws  of  Edward 
the  Confessor.  On  the  25th  of  the  same  month  the  arch- 
bishop, at  a  council  at  St.  Paul's,  actually  produced  the 
charter  issued  by  Henry  I.  at  his  coronation,  and  pro- 
posed that  it  should  be  presented  to  the  king  as  the 
embodiment  of  the  institutions  which  he  had  promised  to 
maintain.  Upon  this  foundation  Magna  Carta  was  soon 
to  be  drawn  up.  Almost  directly  after  this,  in  October, 
the  justiciar  died ;  and  John,  who  had  hailed  the  death 
of  Hubert  Walter  as  a  relief  from  an  unwelcome  adviser 
spoke  of  Geoffrey  with  a  cruel  mockery  as  gone  to  join 
his  old  fellow-minister  in  hell.  Both  h:id  acted  as  re- 
straints on  his  desire  to  rule  despotically,  and  the  last 
public  act  of  Geoffrey  FitzPeter  had  been  to  engage  him 
to  an  undertaking  which  he  was  resolved  not  to  keep. 

But  matters  did  not  proceed  very  rapidly.  It  is  more 
than  a  year  before  we  hear  much  more  of  the  baronial 
demands.      The  new  legate  showed   himself     ^  ^ 

J      •  •/•,,.  John  goes 

desirous  to  gratify  the  king ;  and  although  the  to  France, 
Northern  barons  still  refused  to  go  on  foreign  ^^''*' 
service,  he  managed  to  prevent  an  open  struggle.  The 
king  went  to  Poictou  in  February  12 14,  and  did  not 
return  until  the  next  October.  In  the  meanwhile  the 
damages  of  the  bishops  were  ascertained  and  the  inter- 
dict taken  off  on  the  29th  of  June.  The  war  on  the 
Continent  occupied  men's  minds  a  good  deal.  Philip  won 
the  battle  of  Bouvines  over  the  forces  of  Flanders, 
Gen-nany,  and  England,  on  the  27th  of  July;  and  John 
did  nothing  in  Poictou  to  make  the  North  Country  barons 
regret  their  determination  not  to  follow  him.  The  great 
confederacy  against  Philip  which  Richard  had  planned, 


L  2 


148 


TJic  Early  Plantagcncts.       a.d.  12 14. 


A.D.  1215. 


John. 


149 


and  which  John  had  been  labouring  to  bring  to  bear  on 
his  adversary,  was  defeated,  and  Phihp  stood  forth  for 
the  moment  as  the  mightiest  king  in  Europe. 

Disappointed  and  ashamed,  John  returned,  resolved 
to  master  the  barons,  and  found  them  not  only  resolved 
The  party  ^^^^  prepared  and  organised  to  resist  him,  per- 
of  the  haps  even  encouraged  bv  his  ill  success.  Thev 

had  found  in  Stephen  Langton  a  leader  worthy 
of  the  cause,  and  able  to  exalt  and  inform  the  defenders 
of  it.  Among  those  defenders  were  men  of  very  various 
sorts ;  some  who  had  personal  aims  merely,  some  who 
were  fitted  by  education,  accomplishments,  and  patriotic 
sympathies  for  national  champions,  some  who  were  car- 
ried away  by  the  general  ardour.  In  general  they  may 
be  divided  into  three  classes :  those  Northern  barons 
who  had  begim  the  quarrel,  the  constitutional  party  who 
joined  the  others  in  a  great  meeting  held  at  St.  Ed- 
mund's, in  November  12 14,  and  those  who  adhered  later 
to  the  cause,  when  they  saw  that  the  king  was  helpless. 
It  was  the  two  former  bodies  that  presented  to  him  their 
demands  a  few  weeks  after  he  returned  from  France.  He 
at  once  refused  all,  and  began  to  manoeuvre  to  divide  the 
consolidated  phalanx.  First  he  tried  to  disable  them  by 
demanding  the  renewal  of  the  homages  throughout  the 
country  and  the  surrender  of  the  castles.  He  next  tried  to 
detach  the  clerg)-  by  granting  a  charter  to  secure  the  free- 
dom of  election  to  bishoprics ;  he  tried  to  make  terms 
with  individual  barons ;  he  delayed  meeting  them  from 
time  to  time ;  he  took  the  cross,  so  that  if  any  hand  was 
raised  against  him  it  might  be  paralysed  by  the  cry  of 
sacrilege ;  he  wrote  urgently  to  the  Pope  to  get  him  to 
condemn  the  propositions,  and  excommunicate  the  per- 
sons, of  the  barons.  They  likewise  presented  their  com- 
plaints at  Rome,  resisted  all  John's  blandishments,  and 
declined  to  relax  one  of  their  demands  or  to  give  up  one 
of  their  precautions. 


-- 


Negotiations  ceased,  and  preparations  for  war  began 
about  Easter  12 15;  the  confederates  met  at  Stamford, 
then  marched  to  B'-ackley,  Northampton,  March  of 
Bedford,  Ware,  and  so  to  London,  where  they  ^'^'^  barons. 
were  received  on  the  24th  of  May.  The  news  of  their 
entry  into  London  determined  the  action  of  those  who 
still  seemed  to  adhere  to  the  king,  and  they  joined  them, 
leaving  him  almost  destitute  of  forces,  attended  by  a  few 
advisers  whose  hearts  were  with  the  insurgents,  and  a 
body  of  personal  adherents  who  had  little  or  no  political 
weight  beside  their  own  unpopularity. 

Then  John  saw  himself  compelled  to  yield,  and  he 
yielded  :  he  consented  to  bind  himself  with  promises  in 
which  there  was  nothing  sincere  but  the  reluct-  Magna 
ance  with  which  he  conceded  them.  Magna  ^^'^^^' 
Carta,  the  embodiment  of  the  claims  which  the  arch- 
bishop and  barons  had  based  on  the  charter  of  Henry  I., 
was  granted  at  Runnymede  on  June  15,  12 15. 

Magna  Carta  was  a  treaty  of  peace  between  the  king 
and  his  people,  and  so  is  a  complete  national  act.  It  is 
the  first  act  of  the  kind,  for  it  differs  from  the  charters 
issued  by  Henr}'  I.,  Stephen,  and  Henry  II.  not  only 
in  its  greater  fulness  and  perspicuity,  but  by  having  a 
distinct  machinery  provided  to  carry  it  out.  Twenty- 
five  barons  v»ere  nominated  to  compel  the  king  to  fulfil 
his  part.  It  was  not,  as  has  been  sometimes  said,  a 
selfish  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  barons  and  bishops 
to  secure  their  own  privileges ;  it  provided  that  the 
commons  of  the  realm  should  have  the  benefit  of  every 
advantage  which  the  two  elder  estates  had  won  for  them 
selves,  and  it  bound  the  barons  to  treat  their  own  de- 
pendents as  it  bound  the  king  to  treat  the  barons.  Of 
its  sixty-three  articles  some  provided  securities  for  per- 
sonal freedom  ;  no  man  was  to  be  taken,  imprisoned,  or 
damaged  in  person  or  estate,  but  by  the  judgmer.t  of  his 
peers  and  by  the  law  of  the  land.     Others  fixed  the  rale 


i;o 


The  Early  Plajttagenets. 


A.D.   I215. 

of  payments  due  by  the  vassal  to  his  lord.     Others  pre- 
sented rules  for  national  taxation  and  for  the  or-anisa- 
tion  of  a  national  council,  without  the  consent  of  which 
the  king  could  not  tax.     Others  decreed  the  banishment 
of  the  alien   servants  of  John.     Although  it  is  not   the 
foundation  of  English  liberty,  it  is  the  first,  the  clearest 
the  most  united,  and  historically  the  most  important  of 
all  the  great  enunciations  of  it ;  and  it  was  a  revelation 
of  the  possibility  of  freedom  to  the  mediaeval  world     The 
maintenance  of  the  Charter  becomes  from  henceforth  the 
watchword  of  English  freedom. 

The  remaining  sixteen  months  of  John's  rei-n  were 
a  mere  anarchy,  of  which  it  would  be  difficult  to  unravel 
Attempts  to  ^^^  ^^6  causes.  In  the  first  place  may  be 
Charlen'  ^f  ""^^^  ^^e  savage  wrath  of  the  king  at  beino- 
thus  defeated  and  fettered ;  then  the  unfortu- 
nate interference  of  the  Pope,  who  quashed  the  Charter 
by  a  Bull  of  August  25,  and  on  December  i6  anathema- 
tised the  barons  singly  and  collectively;  he  also  peremp- 
torily suspended  Archbishop  Langton  for  his  share  in 
bringing  about  the  result. 

But  we  are  not  to  lay  all  the  blame  of  what  followed 
on  John.     It  is  true  that  within  a  few  weeks  after  the 
crisis  he  had  thrown   off  all  semblance  of  compliance, 
but   the   barons   were    elated    with    their  success,   and 
showed  very  little   moderation.     They  trusted   him   no 
more  than  he  trusted  them.     They  divided  the  country 
among  their  chiefs,  some  with  the  idea  of  enforcing  the 
Charter,  many  no   doubt  with   the  desire  of  humiliatino- 
the  king.     Langton's  departure  for  Rome  left  them  with- 
out  the   prudent,  sincere,  and   honest   English  counsel 
that  was  needed   for  the  successful  vindication  of  the 
national  cause,  and  gave  the  chief  place  amongst  them  to 
men  who  had  personal  wrongs  to  avenge  and  personal 
objects  to  attain.     Hence  the  great  body  that  had  united 


^^ 


A.D.    I216. 


John. 


I 


'^ 


151 


to  produce  the  Charter  broke  up  into  its  former  elements ; 
some  returned  to  the  king's  side,  the  more  violent  intri- 
gued with  France  and  Scotland. 

John  showed  himself  incapable  of  using  his  oppor- 
tunity.    The  Earl  of  Essex,  the  husband  of  his  first  wife, 
took  the  lead  on  the  baronial  side ;  but  Robert     ^.^^  ^^^^^ 
FitzWalter  and  Eustace  de  Vescy,  two  of  the     offe%d°o" 
second  rank,  were  leagued  with  Philip,  and     ^^^''^' 
under  their  influence  John  was  declared  to  have  forfeited 
his  crown.     Lewis,  the  heir  of  France,  was  selected  to  be 
the  king  of  the  English.  War  could  be  delayed  no  longer. 
The  barons  began  by  besieging  the  castles  of  Northamp- 
ton and  Oxford.     John  brought  up  his  mercenaries  to 
besiege  Rochester,  a  castle  which  the  confederates  held 
in  the  name  of  the  absent  archbishop.     He  had  the  first 
measure  of  success,  and,  in  spite  of  the  attempt  of  the 
barons  to  relieve  Rochester,  captured  it,  showed  a  politic 
mercy  to  its  defenders,  and  then  traversed  the  South  of 
England,  securing  the  population  as  he  went.     He  kept 
Christmas    at    Nottingham,   then    marched    north    and 
seized    Berwick,  striking  consternation   into   the   Scots. 
The  Earl  of  Salisbury,  his  half-brother,  com-     John's 
manded  in  the  Midland  district,  and  London     successes, 
became  the  last  and  almost  the  only  refuge  of  the  mal- 
contents.    Colchester  was  taken   by  the  king  in  March 
1216 ;  and  up  to  this  point  he  exhibited  military  skill  and 
energy  that  shows  him  to  have  been  not  entirely  devoid 
of  the  qualities  of  his  father  and  brother. 

But  now  a  new  actor  appears.  Lewis,  after  a  long 
delay,  arrived  in  England  in  May,  and  at  once  gave  spirit 
and  consistency  to  his  party.  John  retired  Success  of 
before  him  and  took  up  a  position  at  Win-  Lewis. 
Chester.  Lewis  marched  by  Canterbury  to  London,  and 
there  received  the  homage  and  fealties  of  his  friends.  In 
spite  of  the  sentence  of  excommunication  actually  passed 


152 


The  Early  Plantager.cts. 


A.D.    I2l6. 

upon  him  and  his  adherents  by  the  new  legate,  Gualo, 
he  then   marched  on   Winchester,  John  retiring  still  i 
took   Winchester,   and    besieged   W^indsor   and  "bover.' 
The  Northern  lords  joined  him  first,  then  the  great  earls 
even  the  Earl  of  Salisbury  himself.    John  was  desperate ; 
he  roved  up  and  down  the  country  at  the  head  of  his 
banditti,  burning  and   plundering  and   slaying;    whilst 
Lewis  was  gathering   strength  and  friends  every  hour. 
At  last,  on  October  19,  death  overtook  the  king  at  New- 
ark.    From  that  very  day  the  strength  of  Lewis,  which 
was  based  on  the  popular  and  baronial  hatred  of  John 
began  to  decline.     It  mehed  away  as  quickly  as  it  had 
S^  of        grown,  and  in  less  than  a  year  he  was  obliged 
to  make  peace  and  leave  England  alone.  John 
ended  thus  a  life  of  ignominy  in  which  he  has  no  rival 
m  the  whole  long  list  of  our  sovereigns.     There  is  no 
need  to  attempt  an  elaborate  analysis  of  his  character 
History  has  set  upon  it  a  darker  and  deeper  mark  than 
she  has  on  any  other  king.     He  was  in  every  way  the 
worst  of  the  whole  list :  the  most  vicious,  the  most  pro- 
fane, the  most  tyrannical,  the  most  false,  the  most  short- 
sighted, the  most  unscrupulous. 

There  was  an  old  legendary  prophecv,  spoken  in  a 
dream  by  an  angel  to  Fulk  the  Good,  Count  of  Anjou 
when  he  had  in  an  ecstasy  of  fervent  charity  carried  on 
his  shoulders  a  leprous   beggar  for  two  leagues  to  the 
church  of  Marmoutier.     He  was  told  that  to  the  ninth 
generation  his  successors   should  extend  the  bounds  of 
their  dominion  until  it  was  immensely  great     The  pro 
phecy   had   been   fulfilled  — to  Anjou   had   been   added 
Maine  and   Normandy,  Aquitaine  and  England ;  Pales- 
tine too  was  ruled  by  his  descendants  ;  and  at  last  in  the 
person  of  Otho   IV.,   the  seed  of  the  good   count   had 
reached  the  summit  of  earthly  ambition.     But  the  time 
fixed  by  the  legend  was  come.    John  was  the  representa- 


A.D.    I216. 


He  my  II L 


153 


4- 


tive  of  the  last  generation,  with  which  the  blessing  ended, 
and  the  inheritance  of  Fulk  the  Good  passed  into  other 
hands. 


CHAPTER  VIIL 

HENRY   III. 

Character  of  Henry— Administration  of  William  Marshall— Hubert 
de  Burgh— Henry  his  own  minister— Foreign  favourites— General 
nusgovernment— Papal  intrigue  and  taxation. 

The  reign  of  Henry  III.  is  not  only  one  of  the  longest 
but  one  of  the  most  difficult  in  English  history.  It  con- 
tains more  than  one  great  crisis,  and  coincides  in  time 
with  an  epoch  of  vast  progress  ;  but  the  critical  im- 
portance is  by  no  means  equally  diffused,  and  the  rate 
and  fashion  of  the  progress  are  matter  for  minute  study, 
rather  than  for  vivid  illustration.  The  reign  covers  more 
than  half  of  one  of  the  most  eventful  and  brilliant  cen- 
turies of  the  world's  history ;  a  century  made  famous  by 
the  actions  of  some  of  the  greatest  sovereigns,  the  most 
illustrious  scholars,  the  wisest  statesmen ;  the  most  noble 
period  of  architecture ;  the  last  act  of  the  Crusades,  the 
last  struggle  of  the  Papacy  with  the  yet  undiminished 
strength  of  the  Empire.  The  life  which,  on  the  Con- 
tinent, runs  in  these  streams  is  not  without  its  purpose 
in  England. 

England  also  looks  on  the  thirteenth  century  as  her 
great  architectural  age,  the  age  of  her  great  lawyers  and 
some  of  her  greatest  divines.  She  also  has  her  vveight  in 
European  aftairs,  her  struggles  with  the  Papacy,  her  at- 
tempts at  sound  government.  But  the  real  interest  of 
English  history  lies  in  minute  constitutional  steps  of  pro-  1 
gress,  which  are  to  be  estimated  rather  by  their  later  and 
united  effects  than  by  the  actual  and  momentary  appear- 


154 


The  Early  Plantao-cncts. 


A.D.    I2l6. 


ance  of  growth.     For  during  this  time  England  has  no 
guiding  or  presiding  genius.     Her  king  is  a  man  by  no 
means  devoid  of  all  the  picturesque  qualities  of  his  fore- 
fatliers,  and  possessed  of  some  negatively  good  qualities 
which  they  had  not ;  but  on  the  whole  a  degenerate  son 
of  such  great  ancestors,  degenerate  from  their  strength 
Characterof    and  virtues  as  well  as  from  their  faults  and 
Henr>ill.      vices.      Henry  III.   is  perhaps  a  better  hus- 
band and  father,  a  more  devout  man,  than  any  of  his 
predecessors ;  he  is  not  personally  cruel  or  regardless  of 
human   life;  he  has  no  passion  for  war,  no  insatiable 
greed  for  the  acquisition  of  territory,  such  as  in  the  case 
of  his  ancestors  had  cost  so  much  bloodshed.      He  is 
content  for  the  most  part  to  be  king  of  England,  and 
his  success  in  retaining  some  part  of  his   Continental 
dominion  is  the  result  far  more  of  the  honesty  of  his 
adversary  than  of  any  ambition,  skill,  or   force  of  his 
own.     In  these  respects  England  might  have  been  ex- 
pected to  fare  better  under  Henry  than  she  had  done 
under  John  or  Richard  or  Henry  II.;  better  even  than 
she  was  to  fare  under  Edward  I. ;  yet  she  can  scarcely, 
even  viewed  in  the   results,  be  said  to  have   done   so! 
The  long  reign  was  a  long  period  of  trouble,  suffering, 
and  disquietude  of  ever>-  sort.     We  have  no  reason  to 
suppose  that  Henry  was  deficient  in  personal  courage 
or  in  skill  in  arms  such  as  a  brave  knight  might  possess 
without  being  a  great  captain  in  fieldwoi  k  or  in  sieges ; 
or  that  he  was  wanting  in  the  desire  to  be  thought  a 
splendid  and  magnificent  sovereign— as,  indeed,  he  was 
thought— for  he  reaped  the  advantage  of  the  political 
position  which  Henry  II.  had  planned,  and  he  outlived 
the  greater  princes  whose  power  and  character  and  career 
had  thrown  his  own  into  the  shade.     Yet  England  did 
nothing  great  in  his  time  except  as  against  him.      He 
had  no  great  design,  no  energetic  purpose.     He  was  not 


1 


A.D.    I2l6. 


Henry  HI. 


'55 


-i 


J. 


i 


Strong  enough  to  be  true,  although  he  was  strong  enough 
to  be  pertinacious,  resolute  enough  to  be  false.  He  was 
vain  and  extravagant ;  and  this,  with  the  exception  of  his 
falseness,  is  the  worst  that  can  be  said  of  him.  Hence, 
whilst  he  could  not  inspire  love  or  loyalty,  he  could 
inspire  hatred,  and  hatred  is  not,  in  the  case  of  kings, 
as  is  so  often  said  of  the  feeling  in  the  case  of  lower 
men,  incompatible  with  contempt :  a  king  may  inspire 
both  feelings,  and  be  despised  for  moral  weakness  and 
iniquity,  whilst  he  cannot  safely  be  contemned  alto- 
gether, because  of  his  great  power  to  cause  mischief. 
Then,  vanity  and  extravagance,  which  are  minor  faults 
in  a  man  with  strong  purposes,  become  aggravations 
and  incentives  to  hatred  in  a  man  whose  other  motives 
and  purposes  are  weak.  Henry  III.  was  well  hated. 
His  life,  good  or  evil,  had  no  gloss  or  glitter  upon  it: 
it  was  mean  in  the  midst  of  its  magnificence;  it  was 
wanting  in  the  one  element  that  leads  men  to  respect, 
even  where  they  fear  and  blame,  the  character  of  reality 
or  '  veracity  to  a  man's  self.'  There  was  no  purpose,  as 
there  was  no  faith  in  it. 

Fifty-six  years  of  such  a  king  cannot  but  be  a  weari- 
some lesson  to  the  reader,  if  the  eye  rest  on  the  king 
only  or  on  the  circle  of  events  of  which  he  is  Division  of 
the  centre ;  and,  to  a  certain  degree,  in  these  ^'^'^  '"'^'S"- 
ages  in  which  we  have  to  depend  chiefly  on  the  historians 
of  the  time,  with  little  help  from  other  sorts  of  literature, 
the  king  is  necessarily  the  centre  of  every  circle.  The 
monotony  of  detail  may,  however,  be  broken  by  arranging 
the  reign  in  four  divisions.  Henry  was  nine  years  old 
when  he  began  to  reign.  The  first  portion,  then,  com- 
prises the  years  of  his  minority,  and  may  be  regarded  as 
closing  about  the  year  1227,  although,  as  the  influence  of 
his  early  ministers  continued  to  affect  him  for  some  years 
longer,  that  date  is  not  a  very  distinct  limit.     The  second 


156 


The  Early  Plaiitagcncts. 


A.D.    I2l6. 

division  comprises  the  years  of  his  personal  administra- 
tion, during  which  he  mismanaged  matters  for  himself, 
and  which  end  at  the  year  1258,  when,  having  brought 
affairs  to  a  dead  lock,  he  was  obliged  to  consent  to  "be 
superseded  by  a  new  scheme  of  government  embodied 
in  the  Provisions  of  Oxford.  The  third  period  includes 
the  years  of  eclipse,  from  1258  to  1265,  when  the  battle 
of  E\esham  gave  him  again  the  power  as  well  as  the 
name  of  king.  The  last  period  contains  the  seven 
years  intervening  between  the  battle  of  Evesham  and 
the  king's  death,  and  depends  for  its  historic  interest 
entirely  on  the  fact  that  it  witnessed  the  results  of  the 
great  struggle-the  clearing  of  the  board  after  the  crisis 
of  the  game  was  past. 

Returning   now   to   the   state   of  affairs    in    October 
1 216,  when  John  had  just  finished  his  suicidal  career  at 
Accession  of     Newark,  we  find  the  kingdom  to  a  very  great 
enry  III.      g^tent  in  the  hands  of  the  party  pledged  to 
support    Lewis,   the   enterprising   prince    to    whom   the 
French  have  not  hesitated  to  attribute  the  title  of  the 
Lion,  or  the  Lion-hearted.     This  party  comprised  nearly 
all  the  baronage,  for  John's  insane  behaviour  during  the 
last  year  had  dispersed  the  friends  whom  after  the  grant- 
ing of  Magna  Carta  he  had  gathered  to  his  side^even 
his  brother  William,  Earl  of  Salisbury,  had  gone  over  to 
the  enemy.     Lewis's  party  had,  however,  only  one  point 
of  union,  the  hatred  and  distrust  inspired  by  John ;  and 
when   John  was   once   removed,  the   disruption   of  the 
party  and  the  expulsion  of  Lewis  were  sure  to  come  in 
time.     It  was  certain  that  all  real  national  feeling  would 
take  part  against  a  foreign  king;  that  all  the  desires  for 
free  and  ancient  institutions  and  good  government  would 
have  a  much  better  chance  of  contentment  in  the  pros- 
pect of  the  reign  of  the  child  Henry;  and  that   even 
the  party  among  the  barons  which   still  clun^   to   the 


A.D.    1 2 16. 


Henry  III. 


157 


1 


J. 


feudal  ideas  of  government  would  have  a  much  better 
opportunity  of  regaining  its  coveted  influence  through 
him  than  through  Lewis.  But  the  cause  of  the  child 
was  at  first  sight  very  weak.  John  had  driven  all  the 
strong  men  from  his  side  ;  and  Archbishop  Langton,  on 
whom  the  defence  of  what  was  now  become  the  national 
dynasty  would  properly  have  devolved,  was  at  Rome,  in 
temporary  disgrace.  It  may  be  fairly  said  that  had  not 
the  Roman  legate  Gualo  taken  up  a  decided  line,  had 
not  Honorius  III.  seen  his  way  to  reconcile  the  rights 
of  the  nation  with  the  maintenance  of  the  Plantagenet 
dynasty,  Lewis  must  for  the  moment  have  triumphed, 
and  England  would  then  have  had  to  win  her  freedom 
by  a  mortal  struggle  with  France.  But  Gualo  was 
staunch.  The  great  Pope  who  had  committed  England 
to  him  was  just  dead,  but  Honorius  III.  was  no  more 
likely  than  Innocent  to  be  satisfied  with  half-service; 
and  the  legate  saw  that  both  his  own  prospects  of  ad- 
vancement and  the  credit  of  the  Roman  see  were  involved 
in  the  success  of  this  administration.  With  him  was 
Peter  des  Roches,  the  Bishop  of  Winchester,  whom  John 
had  made  justiciar  after  the  death  of  Geoffrey  FitzPeter. 
He  was  a  Poictevin  who  had  been  transformed  from  a 
knight  into  a  bishop  with  few  qualifications  Henry's 
and  little  ceremony;  but  he  was  faithful  to  p^'"^>'- 
John  and  to  his  son,  and  he  was  the  representative  man 
of  the  foreign  party  at  court,  which  stood  chiefly  if  not 
solely  by  personal  attachment  to  the  king.  There  were 
two  or  three  other  bishops  who  had  won  their  places  in 
John's  chancery,  the  Earl  Ranulf  of  Chester,  nearly  the 
last  left  of  the  great  feudal  aristocracy  of  the  Conquest ; 
William  Marshall,  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  now  growing 
old,  who  had  been  the  intimate  friend  of  the  younger 
Henry,  who  had  been  a  justice  and  regent  under  Richard, 
who  had  helped  to  set  John  on  the  throne,  and  had  re- 


158 


The  Early  Plaiitagcncts. 


A.D.    I2l6, 

mained  personally  faithful  to  him  to  the  last,  although 
his  own  sons  were  on  the  side  of  the  barons 

This  httle  party  had  the  child  crowned  on  October  '>8 
at  Gloucester;  and  on  November  12,  at  Bristol,  re-issued 

l^£tr  ^'^^^  ^"^^'^^^  ^"  ^^^  ^^"le,  with  some  im- 

•        portant  omissions.     They  did  not  venture  at 
so  critical  a  time  to  renew  the  articles  which  placed  taxa- 
tion ,n  the  hands  of  the  national  council  or  defined  the 
nature  of  that  assembly  ;  but  in  the  final  clause  of  the 
document  these  articles  were  declared  to  be  suspended 
only  because  of  the  urgency  of  the  times.    The  guardian- 
ship of  the  kmg  and  what  little  remained  to  him  of  the 
kingdom  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  William  Marshall 
and  the  bishops  and  barons  swore  fealtv  to  Henrv   is 
his  contemporaries  called  him-Henry  IV.,  or  Henr;  of 
Winchester,  the  son  of  King  John.     The  office  of  Guar- 
dian for  an  infant  king  had  never  yet  been  needed  in 
England,  at  least  since  the  days  of  Ethelred  the  Un- 
ready, and  all  that  we  know  of  the  present  arrange- 
ment IS  that  it  was  made  in  the  council,  and  with  the 
acquiescence  of  the  legate.     The  title  that  William  Mar- 
shall took  was   ^govcrnour  of  the   king  and  kingdom' 
We  niight  have  expected  that  the  queen-mother  would 
have  been  guardian  of  the  person  of  the  king;  but  he 
had  no  near  male  kinsman  to  take  charge  of  the  kin^ 
dom  according  to  the  reasonable  rule  that  the  defence 
of  the  inheritance  belongs  to  the  nearest  heir,  that  of 
the  person  to  the  nearest  relation  who  cannot  inherit  • 
and  accordingly  the  wardship  of  both  was  entrusted  bv 
the  national  council  to  a  chosen  leader.      No  other  in 
age   dignity   experience,  or  faithfulness  came  near  the 
i-arl  of  Pembroke. 

The  struggle  with  Lewis  covers  the  first  year  of  the 
reign.  Winter  was  too  far  advanced  at  the  time  of  the 
Bristol  Council  for  much  active  warfare,  and  a  truce  was 


A.D.   1217. 


Henry  III. 


\ 


i 

! 


^59 


as  usual  concluded  for  the  Christmas  season,  purchased 
by  the  surrender  of  some  of  the  roval  castles.     Before 
the  new  reign  began  Lewis's  side  had  lost  two     struggle 
of  its  representative  men— Geoffrey  de  Man-     ^i^h  Lewis, 
deville,   Earl   of  Essex,  the   leader  of  the  old  baronial 
party,  and  Eustace  de  Vescy,  who  had  conducted  the 
intrigues  with  Scotland  and  France  which  had  brought 
about  the  present  complication.  The  greatness  of  Lewis's 
early  success  and  the  haughty  assumptions  of  his  French 
followers  were  already  disgusting  the  barons,  and  those 
who  had  no  cause  to  despair  of  pardon  were  contemplating 
adhesion  to  Henry.    The  year  12 17,  however,  began  with 
brisk  action,     Henry's  supporters  assembled  at  Oxford, 
Lewis  and  his  party  at  Cambridge.    The  military  stren-th 
was  all  on  the  side  of  the  latter;  whilst  the  legate  was 
treating  for  a  truce  Lewis  was  besieging  and  taking  castles 
Before  Lent  he  had  reduced  the  whole  of  Eastern  Eng- 
land, except  Lincoln,  which  held  out  unswervingly  under 
Nicolaa  de  Camvill,  the  wife  of  that  Gerard  who  had 
drawn  John  into  his  first  quarrel  with  Longchamp.    But  at 
Midlent  Lewis  was  summoned  to  France;  and,  although 
he  returned  in  a  few  weeks,  he  found  that  some  of  his 
supporters  had  changed  sides.     The  Earl  of  Salisbury 
had  gone  over  to  his  nephew;  the  legate  was  preaching 
a   crusade   against  the   disloyal   and  excommunicated; 
and  the  loyal  barons  bestirred  themselves  to  some  pur- 
pose. 

They  advanced  from  the  West,  just  as  had  been  the 
case  in  the  end  of  Stephen's  days,  Lincoln  again  appear- 
ing to  be  the  decisive  battle-ground.  And  so  it  was. 
Lewis  returned  in  an  evil  mood,  detemiined  to  treat 
England  as  a  conquered  country ;  the  barons  detected  his 
design  and  deserted  him  one  by  one.  At  Whitsuntide 
the  king-  party  advanced  to  relieve  Lincoln  under  the 
Earl  of  Pembroke,  the  Earl  of  Chester,  and  the  legate. 


1« 
11 


i6o 


The  Early  Plantagcncts. 


A.D.    121 7. 


I 


Battle  of         Perche,  and  Saer  de  Quincv  and  Rr.K    Vl- 
!;r  "■         ^Valeer,  .he  leading  spl.^^f  .he  anXn::r 

«a.ed  in  thTr;eTLe';^c^3:;r:^;f  ^  ^"'  -- 

been  tak'pn      n^Tu  ^'^  '^^^^^^^^  ^^nich  had  not  yet 

into"  IX  ?n  'fhrriS  T'  '"  '''-''  "'"-'^ 
foreign  succour  de  as  f^;?!^  """J  '"'~"-  ^he 
Bartholomew's  0^1.17/.  '''  """  "''^■■^'  ""  St. 

Departure       legate   showed  a  vvic-e  and   r^^lV 

of  Lewis.        4.,^  ^-         ,  ^^  ^"<^  politic   mercv  in 

and  ad.i.t;;r:hL":oit,:ti;n  tr'^"  ""-^- 

VVilhan.  Marshal,  was  not  a^^!     s   o  a  L^a^fS  ^ 
exactmg  the  penalties  for  a  treison  «h    K    .  '''' 

difficult  to   define,   and  in  Ih    '  "his   o    '  'Irif  '^ 
largely  .mplicated.     By  Michaelmas  .2,7   he  pTat  . 
restored,  and  the  Cha«er  again  re-issued'  InVs  1   m  :: 

'''^""-         Dha  /    [.  ''°"''  5""^  -^'^Sgle  in  its  first 

palladium  ^^j.  ^^^^st"  LSiiieTir::;:;  %' 

cognised   as  the   salvation   of  kin-   nn^      •     ^  ^" 

-  -It'  ^-'-^  "^  --emt;:^nr.a^;rnTd'  a^d^ 

deatI!':atin',l';rThe'r''f  "'"''"'"'  ""'"  ■^'^ 
peace;  but 'order  waLoI  easHy  fesrrer^t^''^'''^-  ■-" 
which  had  lasted  for  n.ore  Lfour  ve'  fa^nd'T'.' 
was  itself  the  result  of  a  Ion-  penod  of  mi  ""'^'"^ 

In  .he  general  struggle  for  "po^ thtcriuir  Ihe 


A.D.    1217. 


Henry  III. 


161 


pacification   it  was  not  always  the   wisest  or  the  best 
men  that  gained  the  ultimate  ascendency.     It  is  clear 
that   from    the  very   first    there  were   among  the  royal 
counsellors  men  who  had  neither  understood  nor  sympa- 
thised with  the  policy  of  Langton.     Hence  the  omission 
from  the  reissued  charters  of  the  clauses  by  which  the 
king  forbade  and  renounced    unconstitutional   taxation, 
and  prescribed  the  order  of  the  national  council.    Many 
of   the   men   who   had   been    leaders   of    the   baronial 
party  at   Runnymede  had  Allien  into  treasonable  com- 
plicity with    France   or   had  perished   in   the  war;   so 
that  the   regent  was  forced  to  give   a   disproportionate 
share  of  power  to  the  personal  friends  of  John,  foreigners 
and  mercenaries  as  they  were,  or  to  men  like  the  Earl 
of  Chester  and  the  Count  of  Aumale,  who  fought  really 
for  their  own  feudal  independence.     Thus  we  must  ac- 
count for  the  power  of  such  men  as  Falkes  de  Breaute', 
who  almost  caused  a  civil  war  before  he  would  submit 
to  the  law  or  resign  to  the  king  the  castles  which  he 
held  as  the   king's  servant.      Hence  also,  perhaps,  the 
retention  of  Hubert  de  Burgh  in  the  justiciarship  ;  for  he, 
great  man  as  he  afterwards  proved  himself,  was  as  yet 
only  known  as  a  creature  of  John.    Hence  too  the  distin- 
guished position  retained  by  Peter  des  Roches,  although 
he,  as  Bishop  of  Winchester,  had  a  dignity  and  power 
of  his  own.     Hence,  further  on,  the  jealousy  with  which, 
after  the  death  of  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  the  administra- 
tion of  Hubert  de  Burgh  was  viewed  by  the  barons,  and 
the  constant  risings  against  royal  favourites  and  against 
the  too  strong  government  exercised  in  the  name  of  the 
boy  king.     These  troubles  furnish  nearly  all  the  history 
of  the  years  of  Henry's  minority. 

The  expulsion  of  the  French,  the  restoration  of  order, 
and  the  securing  of  the  validity  of  the  Great  Charter  by 
successive  and  solemn  confirmations,  were  the  chief  debt 
M,  H.  M 


l62 


The  Early  Plantagencts. 


A.D.    I220. 

that  England  owed  to  William  Marshall.     So  Ion-  is  he 

'"'ZTf'"  '°  '^^^^"  ''^  P— ^  °  "he  hand 
wrnll™'  1  ^  '^°"'"  '"S«'^  ^"'l  ">  l^eep  in  order  the 
.Ma'^S,.        ^--gn  servants  of  John.     Early  in  ,3,9  L 

incurred  ^eraS.^    ^hi^vt  afr  '''''"' 

appointed  .th  the  sal^^  ^r  a^^'d  t^Z^''-::^ 
New  Go-        Roches  became  g-uarrlinn  ..f  .k  ^^^eraes 

Cualo.  p  JeT2  .ts--  witrH^ttTS  '" 

Crusade,  and  matters  seemed  7,1.  if  ^one  on 

some  ti^e.     At      "tsunl    ^t^V""  ^'"°°"''>-  ^o^ 
-«.ed  at  Westminster,  af  :h:-e;;r^rrmandtrtt 

Jfo".^  --^hti^rLlti-rhfch^T^ 

Gloucester  coronation  had  been  omitted      1/ 

grand  ceremony  ;  al,  the  due  servtc    "of  fte  L.^:::  IZ'?- 

tones  were  regularly  performed,  and  it  was  maril 

of  typical  exhibition  of  the  national  restoration      ,^  Th 

also  a  political   intention.      If  Henrv    v,f  ^ 

through  •;::;^;rr  t^sirtrni^hiit^  ^f  ^ 

dangerous  hands.     The  feudal  Inr^c  f  ^^^^^^^  left  in 

to  Henry  III.  as  they  haS  To  "  rthe  f"'"' 
adventurers   must    be   remnveH  °"^"'>''- the  foreign 

although  they  had  earneT  hem  bTfid  f,""''.'  "''^''' 
made  the  strongholds  of  tyrann^  nnd      ^^^''-  "''-'  "^'^ 

land  must  be  reclaimed  for  he  EnelishTH''""'     '^"^- 

me  iingiish,  and  not  even  the 


U 


4- 


A.D.  1221-23. 


Hairy  III. 


163 


legatine  not  even  the  papal,  influence  must  be  allowed  to 

;";."'"■''  ''™'""  "'"■•^*  '"'""="  ""-'>-" 

The  demand  for  the  restoration  of  the  royal  cstle^ 
produced  the  first  outbreak.   Just  as,  at  the  Sning  ^ 
the  re>gn  of  Henry  II.,  William  of  Aun.ale    wmlof 
had   refused   to  surrender   Scarborough     so    Au'Sa^d 
now  his  grandson  refused  to  surrender  Rock-     If^t 
ingham.       nmediately   after   the   coronation  the   king 
was   brouglu  to   the   siege,   but   the    garrison    L  "f 
he  approached      The  earl,  undismayed,  seized  in  t^ 

esiste'd  n^t  TT  '"'  ^°"^^""«'-'>-  ^  -"  ^"hough  "he 
sentence  oe'  '"""""  °'  ""  «—-"'  but  the 
s!bm?t      I      ^"~'"'7"'^at>on   also,   he   was   forced   to 

more  f        ^  T  ,""'*  '"^  '""  '^'"'SS'^  «-^^  ^^"ewed  in 
more  formidable  dnnensions.    The  Earl  of  Chester,  who 

had  at  first  supported  the  government,  made  himself  the 

spokesman  of  the  feudal  party;  and  the  foreigner    the 

un'slr  J  T-  "■"  ?""  ^'  ^^^^""^'  ^'^  'hfir  bit  to 
man    „  ,K^     ^"■'"■'- "  '°  "■•■''  "°"'  ^^^Snised  as  the  chief 
man  ,n  the  admmistrative   council.     The  evil   was  in- 
creased by  the  discord  in  the  council  itself.     Peter  des 
Roches  was  known  to  prompt  the  resistance  to  Hubert 
de  Burgh  and  to  be  the  patron  of  the  foreigners;  he 
nether  tmderstood   nor  lo^•ed  the   institutions  of  Eng- 
land, and  although  an  able  and  experienced  man  was 
very  ambitious  and  altogether  unscrupulous.     In   ,224 
however,  the  contest  was  decided.     An  act  of  violent  in 
subordination  on  the  part  of  Falkes  de  Breaute  brought 
down  the  king  and  the  kingdom  upon  him;  the  great  con- 
spiracy of  which  he  held  the  strings  was  broken  up,  and  he 
Rorhl'  "°';r"hstanding  the  secret  support  of  Peter  des 

from  ir"i     /  "?.'"  '"''''•'"'°"  °f  "^^  P°P«'  '^as  banished 
from  the  land.     His  fall  involved  the  humiliation  of  the 


M  2 


164 


The  Early  Plantagcnets. 


A.D.    1220-25. 

feudal  lords  who  were  allied  with  him,  and  the  expulsion 
of  the  foreigners  whom  he  represented  and  headed.  Peter 
des  Roches  himself  had  to  take  a  subordinate  place. 

Long  before  this  England  had  been  relieved  from  the 
presence  of  the  legate.  In  1220  Langton  had  gone  to 
Work  of  Rome  and  obtained  a  promise  that  so  long  as 

Hubert  de  he  lived  no  other  legate  should  be  sent  to 
lingland.  Pandulf  seems  to  have  regarded 
the  promise  as  implying  his  own  recall.  He  was  weary 
of  his  post ;  and  having  obtained  his  election  to  the  see 
of  Norwich,  resigned  in  July  1221.  Before  the  end  of 
the  year  1224  the  able  hand  of  Hubert  de  Burgh  had 
shaken  off  the  three  dangerous  influences;  he  had  re- 
claimed England  for  the  English.  But  he  had  done  it 
at  considerable  cost  of  taxation.  This  the  country  was 
ill  able  or  disposed  to  bear,  and  the  alarm  of  war  was 
sounding  on  the  side  of  France,  where  Lewis  succeeded 
his  father  in  1223.  It  was  in  order  to  obtain  from  the 
Re-issue  of  nation  a  grant  of  money  to  defray  these  ex- 
the  Charter,  penses  and  to  equip  an  army  that  Henry, 
under  Hubert's  advice,  for  the  third  time  confirmed  the 
charter.  But,  although  these  were  the  special  occasions  of 
the  re-issue,  the  confirmation  itself  is  a  typical  act,  and 
might  be  regarded  as  the  renewed  good  omen  of  a  happy 
reign.  Most  of  the  hereditary  enemies  of  Henry  were  dead  ; 
all  foreign  influences  were  banished;  the  right  of  the  nation 
to  sound  and  good  government  was  recognised  by  the 
charter  itself.  The  general  acquiescence  in  the  policy  of 
the  administration  was  shown  by  the  grant  of  a  fifteenth 
of  all  moveable  property  to  the  king,  which  was  made 
conditional  on  the  confirmation  of  the  charter,  and  the 
national  union  was  proved  by  the  long  list  of  prelates  and 
magnates  who  attested  it.  Henry,  by  altering  the  terms 
in  which  he  enacted  it  from  the  older  form,  *  by  the 
council'  of  his  barons,  to  *by  my  spontaneous  will,' 


A.D.  1227. 


Henry  III. 


16s 


I 


(I 


seemed  to  be  giving  more  than  a  mere  official  ratifi- 
cation—a personal  and  sincere  adhesion  to  the  great 
formula  of  the  constitution. 

Two  years  after  this  Henry  came  of  age,  and  then 
begins  not  only  his  dangerous  and  unbusinesslike  med- 
dling with  foreign  politics  but  the  gradual  reve-     Henry  in 
lation  of  the  fact  that  he  was  not  more  willing     ^227. 
than  his  father  had  been  to  act  and  reign  as  a  constitu- 
tional king.     From  this  point  date  the  constant  demands 
of  the  Pope  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  king  on  the  other, 
for  money  to  be  spent  on  purposes  which  called  forth 
little  sympathy  in  England,  or  which  were  opposed  to  the 
national  instincts  ;  constant  difficulties  with  the  adminis- 
tration, and,  consequent  upon  those  difficulties,  that  alien- 
ation of  popular  affection  from  the  person  of  the  young 
sovereign  whose  growth  had  been  intently  and  hopefully 
watched— an  alienation  which  grew  from  year  to  year, 
as  the  conviction  gained  ground  that  he  was  not  to  be 
trusted,  any  more   than   he  could  be  honoured  or   ad- 
mired.    But   for  this  conviction  that   serious  attack  on 
his  authority,  which  amounted  in  the  end  to  an  absolute 
superseding  or  deposition,  could  have  been  neither  con- 
templated nor  carried  into  effect.     This  was  not  the  mere 
result  of  a  mismanaged  minority.     No  doubt  the  posses- 
sion or  even  the  anticipation  of  the  possession  of  great 
power  is  a   dangerous  obstacle  to  education;   and  in 
every  case  of  a  royal  minority  which  we  have  in  English 
history  we  find  the  same  miserable  story  of  a  most  im- 
portant charge  neglected,  and  the  most  important  of  all 
possible  trusts  unfulfilled.     It  may  be  that  Hubert  de 
Burgh  and   Peter  dcs   Roches  had  to  work  on  an  un- 
kindly soil.    In  the  child  of  John  and  Isabella  we  should 
not  look  for  much  inherited  goodness  ;  yet  Richard  of 
Cornwall,    Henry's   brother,    was    a    ver>-  different    man 
from  Henry  himself     Still  the  fault  cannot  be  ascribed 


1 66 


The  Early  Platitagenets. 


A.D,    1227. 


altogether  to  the  education.  It  would  have  been  a  sore 
discipline  for  a  noble  mind,  but  to  Henry  it  was  fatal. 
He  learned  nothing  great;  what  was  good  in  him  was 
dwarfed  and  warped. 

The  histoiy  of  the  thirty-one  years,  1227  to  1258, 
which  form  the  period  of  his  personal  administration, 
is  one  long  series  of  impolitic  and  unprincipled  acts! 
These  acts  may,  it  is  true,  be  arranged  under  certain 
distinct  heads,  but  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten  that  they 
were  at  the  time  the  successive  expressions  of  one 
weak,  headstrong  mind,  and  as  such  have  a  unity  and 
a  bearing  upon  one  another,  creating  as  they  proceed  a 
tide  of  hostile  feeling  in  the  nation  that  becomes  at  last 
overwhelming.  It  would  be  an  unprofitable  exercise  of 
ingenuity  and  patience  to  detail  these  acts  in  order  of 
time,  and  to  point  out  how  one  led  to  another.  They 
may  be  divided  into  the  three  heads  of  internal  mis- 
government,  a  mischievous  foreign  policy  pursued  under 
the  guidance  of  the  popes,  and  the  unfortunate  line 
adopted  with  regard  to  the  P>ench  provinces  on  which 
the  king  still  retained  his  hold. 

Under  the  first  of  these  come  Henr>-'s  reluctance  to 
observe  the  charters,  heavy  taxation  for  a  long  series  of 
years,  the  revival  of  the  hated  system  of 
foreign  favouritism,  the  rash  displacement 
and  replacement  of  ministers,  the  attempts  of 
the  king  to  rule  by  means  of  mere  clerks  and  servants 
without  proper  ministers,  and  the  series  of  domestic 
troubles  which  arise  from  these  causes.  Under  the  second 
Papal  de-  head  come  the  heavy  demands  of  the  popes 
mands.  f^j.  pecuniary  help,  or  for  the  preferment  of 

Italians  in  English  churches,  and  the  successive  attempts 
made  by  the  several  pontiffs  to  use  Henry,  his  wealth, 
and  influence  in  Europe,  for  the  destruction  of  the  house 
of  Hohenstaufen,  and  thus  for  the  promotion  of  designs 


Internal 

misgovem- 

ment. 


\ 


t 


A.D.    1228. 


Henry  III. 


167 


which  worked  his   final    humiliation.     Under  the   third 
come  the  several  expeditions  to  France,  the  negotiations 
with  Lewis  IX.,  the  administration  of  Gas-     Foreign 
cony,  and  the  part  taken  by  Richard  of  Corn-     ^f^^^r-,. 
wall  and  Simon  de  Montfort  in  the  administration  of 
that  province.     These  three  lines  of  mischief  combine  to 
produce  the  great  crisis  of  1258,  in  which  the     cHsls  of 
leading  spirit  was  Simon  de  Montfort,  in  which     ^258. 
the  critical  and  determining  cause  was  the  negotiation 
with  the  Pope  for  the  kingdom  of  Sicily,  and  in  which 
the  form  of  the  constitutional  demands  made  by  the  op- 
position was  determined  by  the  character  of  the  internal 
misgovernment  which  had  been  going  on  so  long.  Where 
the  same  points  so  frequently  recur  a  chronological  sum- 
mary becomes  monotonous,  and  a  comprehensive  sketch 
is  sufficient  to  convey  all  the  lessons  that  are  of  real 
value. 

Henry's  first  act  was  an  ill-omened  one.     In  January 
1227,  in  a  council  at  Oxford,  he  declared  himself  of  full 
age  to  govern,  emancipated  himself  from  the     Henry  of 
guardianship  of  Peter  des  Roches,  but  insisted     ^^e- 
that  all  charters  and  other  grants  sealed  during  his  mino- 
rity should  be  regarded  as  invalid  until  a  confirmation  of   ! 
them  had  been  purchased  at  a  fixed  rate.     This  declara- 
tion, founded,  it  would   seem,  on    a   resolution    of  the 
council  agreed  on  in  1218,  that  no  grants  involving  per- 
petuity should  be  sealed  until  he  came  of  age,  was  heard 
with  great  alarm.     The  alarm  spread  further  when  it  was 
known  that  the  forest  boundaries,  which  had  been  settled 
by  perambulation  in  1225,  were  to  be  re-arranged  under 
royal  direction.     If  the  forest  liberties  were  to  be  tam- 
pered with,  the  Great  Charter  itself  would  be  in  peril. 
But  either  the  alarm  was  unfounded  or  the  excitement 
that  followed  ensured  its  own  remedy.     Large  sums  were 
raised  by  confirming  private  charters  ;  but,  on  a  repre- 


1 68 


The  Early  Plantagaiets, 


A.D.    1227- 


sentation  made  by  a  body  of  the  earls  the  forest  ad- 
ministration was  let  alone  and  the  Great  Charter  was 
not  threatened.  The  whole  project  was  seen  to  be  a 
mere  expedient  for  raising  money. 

Matters  went  on  peacefully  for  some  four  or  five 
years,  and  if  complaints  of  misgovernment  were  heard 
they  were,  by  the  ready  action  of  Hubert,  who  continued 
to  be  justiciar,  either  remedied  or  silenced.  From  1227 
to  1232  Hubert  filled  the  place  of  prime  minister,  in  very 
much  the  same  way  as  Hubert  Walter  and  Geoffrey  Fitz- 
Peter  had  done,  sacrificing  his  own  popularity  to  save 
his  master's  character,  and  risking  his  master's  favour  by 
lightening  the  oppressions  and  exactions  of  irresponsible 
government.  Besides  the  wars  with  Wales  and  Scotland 
which  mark  these  years,  and  the  pecuniary  demands 
which  were  necessarily  made  for  carrying  on  the  wars, 
the  chief  interest  of  the  period  arises  from  the  fact  that 
Papal  taxa-  it  saw  the  first  of  those  papal  claims  and  ex- 
^'^"-  actions  which  were  to  exercise  so  baneful  an 

influence  on  the  rest  of  the  reign.  Archbishop  Langton 
died  in  1228,  and  Henry's  envoys  at  Rome  purchased 
the  confirmation  of  his  successor,  Archbishop  Richard, 
by  promising  the  Pope  a  heavy  subsidy  to  sustain  him  in 
his  war  with  the  Emperor.  When  the  time  came  for  this 
demand  to  be  laid  before  the  assembled  council  Earl 
Ranulf  of  Chester  took  the  lead  in  opposing  it.  The 
means  taken  notwithstanding  to  exact  money  roused  a 
strong  popular  feeling.  The  papal  collectors  were  plun- 
dered, the  stores  taken  in  kind  were  burned ;  and  so  in- 
effectual were  the  means  taken  to  suppress  the  outrages, 
that  suspicion  fell,  not  without  good  reason,  on  the  justi- 
ciar himself  as  conniving  at  this  rough  justice.  Henry 
was  already  weary  of  his  minister,  and  his  strongest  feel- 
ings were  the  devotion  which  he  consistently  maintained 
towards  the  papacy  and  his  determination,  equally  reso- 


I 

t 


■  1232. 


Henry  III. 


169 


t 


1 


JU 


lute,  to  let  no  scruple  prevent  him  from  acquiring  money 
whenever  he  had  the  opportunity.  Peter  des  Roches, 
who  had  been  absent  from  England  for  some  years  on 
Crusade,  had  now  returned.  He  lost  no  opportunity  of 
increasing  the  king's  dislike  to  Hubert,  and  of     ^^  ,,   , 

°  ^  '  Fall  of 

promotmg  the  mterest  of  the  foreigners  who     Hubert  de 

were  beginning  again  to  speculate  on  Henry's  ^^^  ' 
weakness.  The  king  was  told  that  his  poverty  was 
owing  to  the  dishonesty  of  his  ministers,  who  were  grow- 
ing rich  to  his  disadvantage ;  he  had  no  money  to  carry 
on  war,  whilst  Hubert  de  Burgh  was  becoming  more 
powerful  in  acquisitions  and  alliances,  and  was  even 
using  his  influence  to  screen  offenders  against  the  Apos- 
tolic see.  Henry  was  not  slow  in  learning  to  be  un- 
grateful. He  had  been  taught  by  Hubert  himself  that  he 
must  discard  the  favourite  servants  of  his  father;  Hubert 
had  to  exemplify,  however  unrighteously,  his  own  lesson. 
In  July  1232  he  was  driven  from  office,  overwhelmed, 
as  Becket  had  been,  with  charges  which  it  was  impossible 
definitely  to  disprove;  and  after  some  vain  at-     ,,. 

■'  ,  1      r  Victory  of 

tempts  to  escape,  he  was  before  the  end  of  the  Peter  des 
year  a  prisoner  and  penniless.  His  successor  ^°'^"^^- 
in  the  justiciarship  was  Stephen  Segrave,  a  creature  of 
Peter  des  Roches.  Peter  himself  resumed  the  influence 
over  the  unstable  king  which  he  had  won  in  his  early 
years,  and  filled  the  court  and  ministry  with  foreigners, 
in  whose  favour  he  displaced  all  the  king's  English 
servants. 

Hubert's  fall  was  great  enough  in  itself  to  excite  pity; 
even  Earl  Ranulf  of  Chester,  who  had  been  most  opposed 
to  him  as  a  minister,  was  moved  to  intercede  for  him. 
But  far  more  than  his  personal  disgrace  the  reversal  of 
his  English  policy  alarmed  the  baronage.  Earl  Ranulf, 
the  natural  head  of  opposition,  died  in  1232  ;  Richard 
of  Cornwall,  who  had  hitherto  shown  signs  of  attachment 


I/O 


The  Early  Plantagcncts. 


A.D.    1234, 


to  the  national  cause,  was  scarcely  fitted  to  lead  an  attack 
on  his  brother's  ministers;  the  Earl  Marshall  Richard, 
Richard  son  of  the  great  regent,  and  younger  brother 

Marshall.        ^f  William   .Alarshall    who    had    married  the 
king's    sister,   became   the    spokesman    of    the    nation. 
Richard  Marshall  was   one   of  the   most   accomplished 
knights  and  the  most  educated  gentleman  of  the  age; 
but  he  had  to  contend  against  the  long  experience  and 
unscrupulous  craft  of  Peter  des  Roches.     After  a  distinct 
declaration  made  by  the  barons  to  the  king,  at  his  sug- 
gestion, that  they  would  not  meet  the  Bishop  of  Win- 
chester in  court  or  council,  and  a  positive  demand  for 
the  dismissal  of  the  foreign  servants  who  had  been  placed 
in   office    by   him,  the    Earl    Marshall   was   declared   a 
traitor.     The  king  marched  against  him  and  drove  him 
into  alliance  with  the  disaffected  Welsh.     A  cruel  strata- 
gem of  Peter  des  Roches  induced  him  to  cross  over  to 
Ireland  to  defend  his  estates  there,  and,  in  a  battle  into 
which  he  was  drawn  by  Peter's  agents,  he  was  betrayed 
and  mortally  wounded.     For  a  long  time  after  his  death 
the  baronage  continued  to  be  without  a  leader  of  their 
own. 

The  cunning  of  Bishop  -Peter  prevailed  to  the  de- 
struction of  Earl  Richard,  but  it  was  not  sufficient  to 
Fall  of  ensure  his  own  position.  The  barons,  although 

Rochef '  ^^^^^  ^^^^  ^^^^^  \^^^^r  when  the  Earl  Marshall 
fled,  were  not  inchned  to  be  submissive,  and 
the  bishops,  now  under  the  guidance  of  Edmund  of 
Abingdon  the  primate  consecrated  in  1234,  insisted  that 
justice  should  be  done  to  the  Earl  Marshall  and  that 
the  foreigners'  should  be  removed.  The  king  was  com- 
pelled to  submit;  Bishop  Peter  was  ordered  to  retire 
from  court,  and  with  him  fell  the  men  whom  he  had 
patronised.  But  it  was  too  late  to  do  justice  to  the 
earl  or  to  stop  the  measures  contrived  for  his  ruin.     As 


A.D.  1234-44. 


Henry  III, 


171 


a  matter  of  fact  the  dismissal  of  Peter  des  Roches  pre- 
ceded by  a  few  days  the  death  of  his  victim  far  away 
in  Ireland.  Hubert  de  Burgh,  however,  profited  by  the 
change  and  regained  his  estates,  although  not  his  poli- 
tical power,  when  his  rival  fell. 

To  some  extent  the  administration  of  Hubert  and  of 
Peter  after  him  had  been  a  continuance  of  the   roval 
tutelage;  from  this  time  Henry  determined  to     j^^^^  ^.^ 
be  not  only  king  but  chief  administrator.  Ste-     plan  of  go- 
phen  Segrave  had  been  a  very  mean  successor     ^*^"""^- 
to  Hubert  in  the  great  office  of  justiciar;  henceforth  the 
officer  who  bears  the  name  is  no  longer  the  lieutenant- 
general  of  the  king,  but  simply  the  chief  officer  of  the  law 
courts.     The  supreme  direction  of  affairs  Henry  kept  in 
his  own  incompetent  hands.     The  position  of  the  chan- 
cellor too  was  stronger  than  was  convenient  to  a  king 
who  intended  to  have  his  own  way.     Ralph  Neville,  the 
Bishop  of  Chichester,  had  received  the  great  seal  in  12:6, 
by  the   advice  and  consent  of  the  great  council  of  the 
nation  ;    he   now   refused   to   surrender   it   to   the   king 
except  at  the  express  command  of  the  assembly  by  which 
he  had  been  appointed.     Henry  succeeded  in  wresting 
the  seal  from  him  in  1238,  but  he  retained  the  income 
and  title  of  chancellor   until  his  death   in    1244.     The 
constant  petitions  of  the  barons  that  a  properly  quali- 
fied justiciar,  chancellor,  and  treasurer  should  be  elected 
or   appointed,  subject   to  the   approval  of  the   national 
council,  show  that  this  independent  action  of  the  king 
was  regarded  with  jealousy,  and  that  they  had  already 
in  germ  the  idea  of  having  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom 
administered   by   men    who   would    be   responsible,  not 
only  as   Becket  and   Hubert  de  Burgh  had  been  to  the 
king,  but  to  the  nation,  as   represented  at  the  time  in 
the  great  council  of  the  barons. 

The  histor}'  of  these  years  is  a  series  of  national 


1/2  The  Early  Plantageneis.  a.d.  1234-44. 

complaints  and  royal  shortcomings  and  evasions,  diver- 
sified by  occasional  campaigns  or  splendid   marriage 
/      Influx  of         ceremonies.     In  1235  Henry  married  his  sister 
7      foreigners.       jg^^^dla   to  the  Emperor   Frederick    II.;    in 
1236  he  hmiself  married  Eleanor  of  Provence.  Both  mar- 
riages were  the  occasions  of  great  outlay  of  money,  which 
the  nation  was  rapidly  becoming  more  and  more  unwill- 
ing  to  pay.     Nor  was  the  discontent  owing  to  taxation 
only.     The  queen's  relations  poured  into  the  country  as 
into  a  newly-discovered  gold-field ;  dignities,  territories, 
high  office  in  Church  and  State  were  lavished  upon  them, 
and  the   rumour  went  abroad  that  they   were  attempt- 
ing to  change  the  constitution  of  the  kingdom.     Under 
their  influence  the  old  foreign  agents  who  had  flourished 
under  the  patronage  of  Peter  des  Roches  returned  into 
court  and  council,  and  brought  with  them  the  old  abuses 
and  the  old  jealousies  in  addition  to  the  new.     In  1238 
the  king  gave  his  sister  Eleanor,  the  widow  of  William 
Marshall  the  younger,  to  Simon  de  .Montfort.    The  mar- 
riage and  subsequent  quarrel  with  Simon  served  to  aug- 
ment   the  jealousy  and  divisions  at  court.      In    1242 
Henry  made  a  costly  expedition  to  France,  from  which 
he  returned  in  1243;  a  new  flood  of  strangers,  this  time 
the  Poictevin  sons  and  kinsfolk  of  his  mother,  followed 
him.      In   1244  Earl   Richard  of  Cornwall  married   the 
queen's  sister;  and  in  1245  Boniface  of  Savoy,  the  queen's 
uncle,  was  consecrated  to  the  see  of  Canterbury. 

Each  of  these  years  is  marked  by  a  struggle  about 
taxation,  conducted  in  the  assembly  of  barons  and  bishops, 
Constitu-  which  from  this  time  is  known  both  in  history 
gHevLces  ^^^  records  by  the  name  of  Parliament. 
In  these  discussions  the  lead  is  taken  some- 
times by  the  bishops,  sometimes  by  the  barons ;  now  it 
IS  the  papal,  now  the  royal  demands  that  excite  oppo- 
sition.     The  charters  are  from  time  to  time  confirmed 


A.D.  1234-44. 


Henry  III. 


173 


I 


as  a  condition  of  a  money  grant ;  and  as  often  as  money 
is  required  they  are  found  to  need  fresh  confirmation. 
Up  to  the  time  of  his  marriage  Earl  Richard  of  Cornwall 
constantly  appears  among  the  remonstrants;  Archbishop 
Edmund,  as  long  as  his  patient  endurance  lasts,  heads 
the  opposition  of  the  bishops ;  Robert  Grosseteste,  the 
Bishop  of  Lincoln,  the  great  divine,  scholar,  and  pastor 
of  the  Church,  is  not  less  distinguished  as  a  leader  in 
the  plans  propounded  for  the  maintenance  of  good  go- 
vernment and  the  diminution  of  the  royal  power  of 
oppression. 

Every  class  suffered  under  the  absolute  administra- 
tion, but  the  citizens  of  London  and  the  Jews  perhaps 
most  heavily,  as  from  them  without  any  in-     t^    ,• 

^  Parliamen- 

termediate  machinery  the  king  contrived  to  tar>- discus- 
wring  money.  Not  slowly  or  gradually  but  ^'°"^" 
by  great  and  rapid  accumulations  the  heap  of  national 
grievances  grew,  and  but  for  the  want  of  a  leader  a 
forcible  attempt  at  revolution  must  have  occurred  much 
sooner  than  it  did.  In  1237  the  national  council  gave 
their  money  under  express  conditions,  none  of  which 
were  observed,  as  to  the  control  and  purpose  of  ex- 
penditure. In  1242  they  presented  to  the  king  a  long 
list  of  the  exactions  to  which  they  had  submitted  out 
of  their  goodwill  to  assist  him,  but  from  which  no 
good  had  arisen.  In  1244,  when  Henry  had  assembled 
the  magnates  in  the  refectory  at  Westminster  and  with 
his  own  mouth  had  asked  for  money,  the  two  great 
estates  present,  lay  and  clerical,  determined,  after  de- 
bating apart,  to  act  in  concert,  and  chose  twelve  repre- 
sentatives to  make  terms  with  the  king.  The  twelve, 
of  whom  the  chief  were  Richard  of  Cornwall  and  Simon 
de  Montfort,  demanded  the  confirmation  of  the  charters, 
and  the  election  of  a  justiciar,  chancellor,  and  treasurer; 
they  broached  even  a   plan   for   constitutional   reform 


/i^ 


J 


J 


172 


T/^e  Early  Plantagcnets.  a.d.  1234-44. 


il 


complaints  and  royal  shortcomings  and  evasions,  diver- 
sified by  occasional  campaigns  or  splendid  marriage 
Influx  of  ceremonies.  In  1235  Henry  married  his  sister 
foreigners.  Isabella  to  the  Emperor  Frederick  II. ;  in 
1236  he  himself  married  Eleanor  of  Provence.  Both  mar- 
riages were  the  occasions  of  great  outlay  of  money,  which 
the  nation  was  rapidly  becoming  more  and  more  unwill- 
ing to  pay.  Nor  was  the  discontent  owing  to  taxation 
only.  The  queen's  relations  poured  into  the  country  as 
into  a  newly-discovered  gold-field;  dignities,  territories, 
high  office  in  Church  and  State  were  lavished  upon  them, 
and  the  rumour  went  abroad  that  they  were  attempt- 
ing to  change  the  constitution  of  the  kingdom.  Under 
their  mfluence  the  old  foreign  agents  who  had  flourished 
under  the  patronage  of  Peter  des  Roches  returned  into 
court  and  council,  and  brought  with  them  the  old  abuses 
and  the  old  jealousies  in  addition  to  the  new.  In  1238 
the  king  gave  his  sister  Eleanor,  the  widow  of  William 
Marshall  the  younger,  to  Simon  de  Montfort.  The  mar- 
riage and  subsequent  quarrel  with  Simon  served  to  aug- 
ment the  jealousy  and  divisions  at  court.  In  1242 
Henry  made  a  costly  expedition  to  France,  from  which 
he  returned  in  1243;  ^  ri^w  flood  of  strangers,  this  time 
the  Poictevin  sons  and  kinsfolk  of  his  mother,  followed 
him.  In  1244  Earl  Richard  of  Cornwall  married  the 
queen's  sister;  and  in  1245  Boniface  of  Savoy,  the  queen's 
uncle,  was  consecrated  to  the  see  of  Canterburv. 

Each  of  these  years  is  marked  by  a  struggle  about 
taxation,  conducted  in  the  assembly  of  barons  and  bishops, 
Constitu-  which  from  this  time  is  known  both  in  history 
tionai  and  records  by  the  name  of  Parliament. 

gnevan.es.  j^  thcsc  discussions  the  lead  is  taken  some- 
times by  the  bishops,  sometimes  by  the  barons ;  now  it 
is  the  papal,  now  the  royal  demands  that  excite  oppo- 
sition.     The  charters  are  from  time  to  time  confirmed 


J 


A.D.    1234-44. 


Henry  III. 


173 


as  a  condition  of  a  money  grant ;  and  as  often  as  money 
is  required  they  are  found  to  need  fresh  confirmation. 
Up  to  the  time  of  his  marriage  Earl  Richard  of  Cornwall 
constantly  appears  among  the  remonstrants  ;  Archbishop 
Edmund,  as  long  as  his  patient  endurance  lasts,  heads 
the  opposition  of  the  bishops ;  Robert  Grosseteste,  the 
Bishop  of  Lincoln,  the  great  divine,  scholar,  and  pastor 
of  the  Church,  is  not  less  distinguished  as  a  leader  in 
the  plans  propounded  for  the  maintenance  of  good  go- 
vernment and  the  diminution  of  the  royal  power  of 
oppression. 

Every  class  suffered  under  the  absolute  administra- 
tion, but  the  citizens  of  London  and  the  Jews  perhaps 
most  heavily,  as  from  them  without  any  in-     pariiamen- 
termediate  machinery  the  king  contrived  to     tary  discus- 

•VT  11  1       11      1  sions. 

wrmg  money.  Not  slowly  or  gradually  but 
by  great  and  rapid  accumulations  the  heap  of  national 
grievances  grew,  and  but  for  the  want  of  a  leader  a 
forcible  attempt  at  revolution  must  have  occurred  much 
sooner  than  it  did.  In  1237  the  national  council  gave 
their  money  under  express  conditions,  none  of  which 
were  observed,  as  to  the  control  and  purpose  of  ex- 
penditure. In  1242  they  presented  to  the  king  a  long 
list  of  the  exactions  to  which  they  had  submitted  out 
of  their  goodwill  to  assist  him,  but  from  which  no 
good  had  arisen.  In  1244,  when  Henry  had  assembled 
the  magnates  in  the  refectory  at  Westminster  and  with 
his  own  mouth  had  asked  for  money,  the  two  great 
estates  present,  lay  and  clerical,  determined,  after  de- 
bating apart,  to  act  in  concert,  and  chose  twelve  repre- 
sentatives to  make  terms  with  the  king.  The  twelve, 
of  whom  the  chief  were  Richard  of  Cornwall  and  Simon 
de  Montfort,  demanded  the  confirmation  of  the  charters, 
and  the  election  of  a  justiciar,  chancellor,  and  treasurer; 
they  broached  even  a  plan   for   constitutional   reform 


174 


The  Early  Plantagenets. 


A.D.  1245- 


according  to  which  a  perpetual  council  was  to  be  ap- 
pointed to  attend  the  king  and  secure  the  execution  of 
reforms  to  be  embodied  in  a  new  charter.  Henry  first 
resisted,  then  produced  an  order  from  the  Pope ;  but 
the  barons  were  unable  to  persevere  in  their  designs. 
They  refused,  however,  to  make  a  large  grant  and  voted 
a  sum  which  they  could  not  legally  object  to  pay  for  the 
marriage  of  the  king's  daughter. 

The  pages  of  the  great  historian,  Matthew  Paris,  teem 
with  details  like  this.  Whether  money  were  given  or  re- 
Henry's  fused,the  king  went  on  askingformore;  whether 
impolicy.         jjg  jy^ej-  ^Q^  national  complaints  with  promise 

or  with  insult,  the  evils  remained  alike  unredressed.  No 
permanent  ministers  were  appointed;  the  king  nomi- 
nated a  clerk  or  a  judge  from  time  to  time  to  despatch 
formal  business,  and  every  important  transaction  for 
which  he  himself  was  not  personally  competent  was  left 
to  be  settled  at  haphazard.  Some  good  results  followed  ; 
the  country  learned  that  the  king  was  really  dependent 
on  the  nation,  although  it  failed  to  impress  that  lesson 
upon  Henry  himself;  every  year  the  machinery  for  as- 
sessing and  collecting  the  taxes  assumed  more  and  more 
a  representative  character,  and  the  forms  as  well  as  the 
spirit  of  a  parliamentary  constitution  grew  apace.  But 
in  the  countless  assemblies  which  were  held  during  this 
part  of  the  reign  it  is  not  possible  to  trace  any  uniformity 
or  even  any  tendency  towards  a  system  of  representative 
government.  The  councils  are  more  busy  about  their 
powers  than  about  their  constitution,  and  the  representa- 
tive machinery  already  in  use  for  carrying  out  the  execu- 
tive part  of  the  public  business  does  not  yet  reach  the 
region  of  legislative  or  supreme  taxation. 

No  great  design  is  attempted  during  these  years ;  the 
barons  see  no  return  for  the  great  costs  to  which 
the   king   puts   them.      The    King   of  France   goes   on 


-1257- 


Henry  III. 


175 


Crusade,  but  Henry  only  raises  money  on  the  pretext 
and  spends  or  wastes  it  on  other  purposes.     The  Pope 
drains  the  kingdom.     There  are  murmurs  but     National 
no  blows  :  no  conspiracies,  no  leader.     Simon     »nact'^"y- 
de    Montfort   is   employed   in   Gascony ;   Earl   Richard 
minds  his  own  business.     The  kingdom  is  again  handed 
over  to  the  Poictevins,  yet  no  one  has  position  or  energy 
to  take  the  lead.     So  matters  drag  on.     In  1248,  1249, 
1255  the  demands  for  a  regular  ministry  are  confirmed; 
and  now  it  is  desired  that  they  shall  be  appointed  by 
the  common  council  of  the  nation.     In  1237  and  again 
in  1253  the  charters  are  solemnly  renewed,  and  excom- 
munication passed  on   the   transgressors   of  them.     In 
1254  an  assemblv  is  held  to  grant  an  aid,  to  which  two 
knights  of  the  shire  are  called  from  each  county,  elected 
by  the  county  court— a  very  important  step  towards  the 
creation  or  development  of  a  parliamentary  system.     At 
last,  in  1257,  by  a  series  of  events  like  these,  the  patience 
of  the  baronage  is  absolutely  worn  out,  and  the  king  by 
an  extraordinary  act  of  daring   presumption  gives  the 
signal  for  the  outbreak. 

Our  second  division  of  the  causes  which  led  to  the 
great  crisis  of  the  reign  comprises  Henry's  relations 
with  the  popes  and  the  papal  policy.  It  is  Henry  and 
not  a  thing  to  be  wondered  at  that  Henry  ^^e  Popes, 
should  adhere  closely  to  the  Pope :  for  it  was  papal  in- 
fluence that  made  him  king,  and  his  mind  was  formed 
under  religious  influences  redolent  of  papal  ideas.  He 
had  to  deal  too  with  popes  of  high  and  masterly  minds, 
and  bowed  implicitly  to  such.  He  never  disputed  or 
quarrelled  with  any  pope;  no  point  was  to  his  mind 
worth  defence.  He  was  just  old  enough  to  remember 
the  last  days  of  the  Interdict;  he  knew  how  Hono- 
rius  III.  had  supported  him  against  Philip  and  Lewis; 
he  watched  the  long  humiliation  of  Frederick   II.   by 


\y6 


The  Early  Plantagenets.  a.d.  1226-52. 


Gregory  IX.  and  Innocent  IV.  He  never  knew  a  weak 
pope.  He  might  have  resisted,  and  would  have  gained 
The  arch-  immensely  by  resistance  :  his  archbishops, 
bishops.  Stephen    Langton,    Richard   le    Grand,    and 

Edmund  of  Abingdon,  were  three  model  ecclesiastics, 
men  unassailable  in  the  points  of  patriotism,  inde- 
pendence, and  sanctity.  Even  Boniface  of  Savoy, 
although  he  was  neither  an  Englishman  nor  a  saint, 
would  have  boldly  resisted  the  Pope  and  strengthened 
the  king  with  his  sword  if  not  with  his  staff.  But  Henry 
was  generally  thwarting  his  archbishops  ;  he  alienated 
their  support  and  wore  out  their  patience.  Edmund  he 
drove  into  exile  by  his  tyranny  and  extortion ;  and  even 
Boniface  on  occasion  chose  to  side  with  the  national 
party  rather  than  to  support  such  a  king. 

The  string  of  papal  difficulties  begins  in  1226,  when 
the  Pope  demanded  a  share  of  the  property  of  every 
^.     ,       ,     cathedral   church   and   monastery.     In   1229 

List  of  papal  ,  ,     ,  .  ,  /-      n 

assump-  Gregory  IX.  demanded  a  tithe  of  all  move- 

''''"'•  ables,  which  only  Earl  Ranulf  of  Chester  had 

courage  to  refuse.  In  1 23 1  the  Roman  exactions  produced 
public  tumults,  and  led  to  the  quarrel  which  ruined  Hubert 
de  Burgh.  In  1237  the  king  invited  Cardinal  Otho  to  re- 
form the  Church.  He  stayed  until  1241,  visited  Oxford, 
and  put  the  University  under  interdict  ;  visited  Scotland 
in  1 239,  and  in  1 240  exacted  enormous  sums  for  the  benefit 
of  the  Pope,  besides  forbidding  the  king  to  bestow  prefer- 
ment on  Englishmen  until  three  hundred  Italians  had 
been  provided  for.  In  1244  Innocent  IV.  sent  a  still  more 
intolerable  representative,  Master  Martin,  who  within  a 
year  was  obliged  to  fly;  but  neither  king  nor  parliament 
ventured  to  refuse  money.  Besides  direct  payments  a 
vast  proportion  of  English  livings  was  held  by  foreigners. 
Bishop  Grosseteste,  who  regarded  these  usurpations  as  the 
very  destruction  of  the  flock  for  which  he  was  ready  to 


A.D.  1252-5. 


Henry  III. 


177 


lay  down  his  life,  declared  that  in  1252  the  Pope's  nomi  - 
nees  had  revenues  within  the  realm  three  times  as  great 
as  the  roval  income.     There  was  too  a  constant  succes- 
sion of  appeals  to  Rome,  as  the  episcopal  elections  were 
disputed,  and  the  Pope  either  assumed  the  power  of  pre- 
sentation or  sold  the  justice  or  injustice  that  it  pleased 
him  to  dispense.     To  understand  how  these  vast  sums 
were  disposed  of  by  the  popes  involves  the  careful  read- 
inn-  of  the  history  of  Frederick   II.     The  exactions  of 
Gregory  IX.  begin  with  the  first  quarrel  with  Frederick, 
and  the  crowning  difficulties  of  Henry  III.  are  caused 
by  his  entancrlcment  with  Alexander  IV.  on  the  subject 
of  Sicily.     Yet  Frederick  II.  was  his  own  brother-m-law, 
and  a  prince  who,  whatever  his  faults  may  have  been, 
suffered  papal  enmity  for  reasons  which  had  nothing  to 
do  with  his  shortcomings.     Frederick  was  admired  and 
pitied  in  England  as  a  papal  victim.     Lewis  IX.  could 
refuse    to   be    an    instrument    in    his    humiliation,   but 
Henry   III.  seems  to  have  tied  himself  to  the  Popes 
chariot-wheels.     The    Pope  and  the  king,  according  to 
the  saving  of  the  time,  left  to  men  only  the  task  of  dis- 
cerning whether  the  upper  or  the  nether  millstone  were 

the  heaviest. 

Fatal  as  the  friendship  of  Gregory  IX.  and  Innocent 
IV.  had  been,  it  was  the  policy  of  Alexander  IV.  which 
broke  the  long-enduring  patience  of  the  baron-     Henry 
age  and  compelled  them  to  bind  the  kings     ^i„gdomof 
hands.    Innocent  IV.  in  1252  had  offered  the     sidy. 
kingdom  of  Sicily  to  Richard  of  Cornwall.  The  negotiation 
went  on  until  in  1255  it  was  accepted,  not  for  Richard,  but 
for  Edmund,  the  king's  second  son.     It  might  have  been 
supposed  that  as  the  quarrel  was  the  Pope's  Alexander 
would  have  hired  Henry  to  fight  his  battles;  but  by  this 
adroit  system  of  enlistment  he  reversed  the  rule.      He 
fought   the  battles   and    expected   Henry   to   pay   him. 

M.  //.  N 


178 


The  Early  Planiagcnets.   a.d.  1225-54. 


French 
transac 

tions. 


Henry  was  weak  enough  to  bear  this  and  even  to  pledge 
the  credit  of  the  kingdom  to  the  Pope  for  the  sum  which 
the  craftv  Itahan  moneylender  had  advanced  to  main- 
tain  his  own  quarrel.  It  was  this  act  that  led  to  the 
demand  for  a  new  constitution,  which  opens  the  next 
great  epoch  of  this  long  dismal  reign. 

Henry's   French  transactions,  the  third  of  the  three 
Henry's  heads  in  which  we  have  arranged  the  second 

portion  of  the  reign,  must  be  summed  up  very 
briefly,  for  they  are  in   themselves  the  least 
important  part  of  his  history. 

Of  all  the  possessions  of  Henry  II.  only  Aquitaine 
and  Gascony  remained  to  John  at  the  time  of  his  death ; 
and  these  remained,  not  because  they  loved  the  Planta- 
iienets,  for  thev  hated  them,  but  because  thev  hated  all 
government,  and  found  that  distant  England  was  a  less 
vigorous  mistress  than  nearer  France.  So,  as  they  had 
opposed  ftenry  1 1.,  they  resisted  Philip  and  Lewis ;  and 
they  continued  subject  to  the  English  kings  until  the 
reign  of  Henry  \'I.,  but  shorn  of  their  proportions. 
Henry  III.  in  his  early  years  entertained  some  idea  of 
reclaiming  all.  In  1225  Richard  of  Cornwall  was  sent 
to  Bourdeaux,  and  re-established  order  in  Gascony;  in 
1229,  during  the  minority  of  Lewis  IX.,  not  only  Gas- 
cons but  Normans  proposed  to  Henry  the  restoration 
of  the  Continental  dominions  of  his  house;  and  in  1230 
he  actually  went  across  by  Brittany  and  Anjou  and  re- 
ceived the  homage  of  Poictou,  whilst  the  Earl  of  Chester 
made  an  attempt  on  Normandy.  But  in  the  following 
year  a  truce  was  made,  and  no  more  is  said  of  a  French 
war  for  twelve  years.  In  1242,  however,  at  the  invitation 
of  the  Poictevins,  over  whom  Lewis  had  set  his  brother 
Alfonso  as  count,  Henry  made  a  great  expedition,  which 
he  managed  with  so  little  felicity  that  he  owed  his  escape 
from  captivity  to  the  mercy  of  his  enemy,  just  as  he  owed 


* 

I- 


\ 


J- 


I 


A.D.    1254. 


Henry  III. 


179 


his  continued  possession  of  Gascony  to  that  enemy's 
good  faith.  After  his  return  home  in  1243  the  only 
foreign  difficulties  which  occurred  for  several  years 
arose  from  the  conduct  of  the  Gascons,  who,  finding  no 
pressure  put  upon  them  by  Lewis,  took  courage  to  rebel 
on  their  own  account,  and  required  constant  chastise- 
ment. From  1249  onwards  Simon  de  Montfort  was  em- 
ployed to  keep  them  in  order  ;  and  whilst  his  demands 
for  money  were  one  cause  of  Henry's  difficulties  at  home, 
Henry  s  treatment  of  him  laid  the  foundation  of  a  last- 
ing enmity.  The  complaints  of  the  Gascons  against  his 
severe  administration  were  readily  listened  to,  and  Simon 
was  easily  convinced  that  his  employment  in  France  was 
a  mere  expedient  for  securing  his  ruin.  In  1253  he  re- 
signed his  command,  and  Henry  for  the  third  time  went 
in  person  to  France,  where  he  stayed  for  a  year  and  a 
half,  returning  at  the  end  of  1254  more  hopelessly  in 
debt  than  ever. 

From  this  point  the  accumulating  grievances  of  the 
nation,  whether  constitutional,  religious,  or  political,  blend 
in  one  mass  ;  all  the  oppressed  and  offended  make  com- 
mon cause.  Extortion,  faithlessness,  improvidence,  im- 
potence at  home  and  abroad,  compel  and  suggest  their 
own  remedy  ;  and  every  class  having  been  insulted  or 
oppressed,  the  time  and  the  men  for  reform  and  revenge 


are  not  wantmg. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

SIMON   DE   MONTFORT. 

Delay  of  the  crisis — Simon  de  Montfort — Parliament  of  1258 — Pro- 
visions of  Oxford — Political  troubles — Award  of  St.  Lewis  — 
Battle  of  Lewes  —  Baronial  government — Battle  of  Evesham — 
Closing  years. 

The  long  and  dreary  survey  of  the  first  forty  years  of 
Henry's  reign  has  its  chief  use  in  enabling  us  to  trace 

N   2 


i8o 


The  Ejxrly  Plantagcncts. 


CH.   IX. 


CH.  IX. 


Simon  dc  Montfort. 


i8i 


Why  the 
constitu- 
tional crisis 
wa^  de- 
layed. 


the  string  of  events,  the  accumulation  of  causes  and 
motives,  which  produced  the  more  striking  comphcations 
of  the  remaining  sixteen  years.  We  have 
seen  that  on  the  one  hand  a  gradually  in- 
creasing spirit  of  resistance  was  being  roused 
among  all  classes  of  the  people.  Through 
a  shifty,  shuffling,  purposeless  public  policy  on  the  king's 
part,  a  sullen  determination  to  reign  as  despotically  as 
his  father  had  done  constantly  makes  itself  apparent. 
The  papal  influence,  too,  by  which  his  foreign  policv 
was  guided,  was  gradually  bringing  him  up  to  a  point 
at  which  the  national  spirit  would  no  longer  endure  him. 
We  cannot  fail  to  perceive  further  that  Henry's  deter- 
mination to  act  as  his  own  minister  could  have  but  one 
result — that,  when  the  time  for  account  came,  the  account 
would  be  demanded  of  him  himself  personally :  he  would 
have  no  agents  behind  whom  he  could  screen  himself,  or 
whom  he  could  sacrifice  to  justify  himself  Henry's  per- 
sonal character,  his  pliancy  and  want  of  principle,  mav 
perhaps  have  helped  to  put  off  the  day  of  account,  so 
long  delayed,  and  it  may  have  been  his  own  misfortune 
that  he  lived  so  long  to  try  the  patience  of  the  people. 
Another  reason  for  their  endurance  was  no  doubt  the 
want  of  a  leader,  and  that  was  a  potent  reason.  In  the 
early  difficulties  of  the  reign  the  place  of  the  leader  of 
constitutional  opposition  was  occasionally  taken  by  the 
Earl  of  Chester,  a  man  in  whose  conduct  the  desire  of 
rule  was  stronger  than  the  love  of  liberty  ;  and  after  his 
death  it  was  occupied  with  higher  principles  and  nobler 
purposes  by  the  Earl  Marshall  Richard.  After  Richard's 
death  no  great  lay  baron  for  a  long  time  stood  out  from 
the  rest  as  a  leader.  The  bishops  proclaimed  their 
grievances  and  the  oppressions  of  the  court,  but  the 
bishops  were  forbidden  by  their  order  to  take  up  arms 
against  the  king.     The  great  earldoms  of  the  former  age 


i 


were  extinct  in  spirit  if  not  in  title,  and  possibly  the  king 
may  have  found  means  to  keep  their  modern  representa- 
tives silent  or  inactive.    The  great  earldom  of    „ 

T      •  1      J    1  Henrys 

Leicester  had  been  split  in  two,  and  one  half,  dynastic 
which  bore  the  name  of  Leicester,  was,  at  ^°'''^^" 
the  beginning  of  the  reign,  in  the  king's  hands,  although 
claimed  by  the  Montforts.  The  earldom  of  Chester 
came,  on  the  extinction  of  the  heirs,  to  the  crown  in 
1237;  Essex  and  Hereford  were  held  by  one  family; 
Cornwall  by  the  king's  brother;  Salisbury  by  his 
cousin.  Gloucester  alone  retained  anything  like  its  old 
importance,  and  the  Earl  of  Gloucester  could  not  stand 
alone.  Henry  was  wise  enough  to  see  this,  and  so 
avoided  the  restoration  of  Chester  by  keeping  it  as  a 
provision  for  one  of  his  sons.  It  was  probably  with  the 
like  object  that  he  connived  at  the  marriage  of  his  sister 
with  Simon  de  Montfort,  to  whom  the  Leicester  inheri- 
tance must  in  the  end  come ;  and  when  the  earldom  of 
the  Marshalls  escheated  he  gave  it  to  his  half-brother. 
If  all  the  great  earldoms  could  be  comfortably  distributed 
among  his  near  kinsmen  the  baronial  party  would  be 
without  its  natural  head,  and  might  lie  at  his  mercy. 
That  this  was  a  part  of  his  plan  we  may  infer  from  his 
treatment  of  the  bishoprics.  He  no  doubt  thought  that 
he  had  a  safe  hold  on  the  clergy  when  his  wife's  uncle 
was  made  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  his  half-brother, 
Ethelmcr  of  Lusignan,  bishop  of  Winchester,  and  ano- 
ther important  bishopric,  that  of  Hereford,  was  in  the 
hands  of  a  Provencal  kinsman.  PMward  III.,  a  hun- 
dred years  after  him,  adopted  somewhat  the  same  plan 
of  consolidating  family  power  by  marrying  his  sons  to 
the  heiresses  of  the  earldoms ;  and  at  an  earlier  period 
in  the  history  of  the  empire  the  German  duchies  more 
than  once  take  the  form  of  a  compact  family  party. 
Unfortunately,  however,  the  plan  has  seldom  answered: 


I82 


The  Early  Plantagcncts, 


CH.  IX. 

people  can  hate  their  relations  perhaps  more  cordiallv 
than  they  can  hate  anyone  else ;  and  in  a  generation  o'r 
two,  when  personal  hated  is  complicated  with  the  ricrhts 
of  mhentance,  wars  between  cousins  are  apt  to  become 
mternecme.     Even  in  the  present  reign  we  shall  come 
upon  one  or  two  instances  of  this.     One  effect  of  this 
statecraft   on    Henry's   part   was   to  keep  the  constitu- 
I  tional  party  divided  and  headless;  another  was  to  pro- 
voke opposition  amongst  those  in  whom  he  might  other- 
wise have  trusted.     His  treatment  of  the  Gascons  was 
such  as  at  one  period  to  throw  even  his  son  Edward  and 
his  brother  Richard  into  opposition  ;   and  as  early  as 
1242  we  have  seen  Earl  Richard  of  Cornwall  takin-  an 
important  place  in  the  baronial  councils ;  but  the  lead- 
ing and  crowning  instance  is  Simon   de  Montfort    the 
personal  enemy,  the  leader  of  constitutional  opposition 
the  national  champion,  whom  Henry  raised  up  for  his 
own  discomfiture  as  directly  and  as  persistently  as  if  he 
had  had  from  the  beginning  that  object  in  view. 

The   opinions  of  historians  have  differed  wideh-  in 
drawing  the  characters  of  the  two  most  influential  men 

Cornwan"^      ""^  ^^'''  ^'^'^°'^-    ^^^^^^^'^^  ^i"^  ^^  the  Romans, 
a  dignity  which  he  attained  in  1257,  the  se- 
cond son  of  John,  must  have  been  on  anv  showing  a  man 
of  more  energy  and  enterprise  than  his  brother  Henrv  • 
It  IS  attested  by  his  early  achievements  in  war,  by  his 
crusade,  and  by  the   adventurous  wav  in   which   he  at- 
tempted  and   really  maimained  his   hold  on  Germany 
He  was  also  a  better  manager;   for  whilst  Henrv  was 
always  hopelessly  over^vhelmed  with  debt,  Richard  was 
always  amply  provided  with  money,  and  able  to  lend  his 
brother  large  sums,  which  kept  him  afloat  for  a  time   but 
did  not  get  him  out  of  his  difficulties.     Richard  had'also 
much  sounder  ideas  of  policy,  acting  frequently  with  the 
baronial  party,  resisting  and  remonstrating  against  his 


CH.   IX. 


Simon  de  Moutfort. 


183 


brother's  foolish  designs,  and  winning  throughout  both 
France   and  England   no  small  reputation  for  political 
sagacity.     In  opposition  to  these  favourable  points  must 
be  set  a  strong  public  opinion  existing  at  the  time,  and 
since  constantly  re-echoed  both  in  England  and  in  Ger- 
many.    The   English,  disliking  his  attempts  at  foreign 
sovereignty,  represented  him  as  a  foolish,  extravagant, 
tricky  man,  who  for  the  name  of  Emperor  sacrificed  his 
real  interests  and  imperilled  the  interests  of  his  country; 
a  man  who  would  let  the  Germans  delude  him  out  of 
all  his  treasure  and  then  come  back  to  England  and  take 
the  unpopular  side,  as  he  did  in  the  barons'  war.     The 
Germans,  who  always  treated  the  English  kings  as  rich 
fools  to  be  handled  from  time  to  time  for  their  own  profit, 
got  out  of  him  all  they  could  in  the  way  of  money  and 
privileges,  and  showed  their  gratitude  by  mocking  him. 
A  more  careful  view  of  his  career  leads  to  the  conclusion 
that  both  his  abilities  and  his  success  were  underrated. 
He  was  certainly  not  a  great  sovereign,  but  the  proba- 
bility is  that,  with  the  chances  he  had,  he  might  have 
done  very  much  worse.     He  was  one  of  the  very  last 
of  the  Kings  of  the  Romans  who  thought  of  building  up 
the  empire  as  distinct  from  their  own  dynastic  power; 
who  lavished  what  he  had  upon  it  instead  of  merely 
using  the  power  and  dignity   which  it  gave  him  to  in- 
crease the  wealth  of  his  own  family.     In  respect  to  his 
conduct  as  an  English  earl   we  find  him  always  acting 
as  a  mediator  and  arbitrator,  never  urging  the  king  to 
his  despotic  and  deceitful  courses.     If  when  the  country 
was  actually  at  war  he  threw  in  his  lot  with  his  brother, 
rather  than  with  Simon  de  Montfort,  whom  he  did  not 
understand,  but  suspected  and  reasonably  disliked,  he 
can  hardly  be  visited  with  severe  blame.     He  was  the 
wisest  and  most  moderate,  it  would  seem,  of  Henry's 
advisers ;  but  Henry  was  not  fond  of  being  ad\  ised. 


1 84 


The  Early  Plmitagcncts. 


CH.   IX. 


CH.   IX. 


Simon  dc  Montfort. 


185 


Simon   de  Montfort   was  a  very  different  man,  and 
very  different  estimates  have  been  formed  of  him.     On 
Simon  de        One  sidc  he  is  regarded  as  an  almost  inspired 
Montfort.        Statesman,  a  scholar,  a  saint,  a  martyr;  on  the 
other  he  is  a  mere  adventurer,  a  demagogue,  a  man  full  of 
selfish  ambitions  and  personal  hatreds,  a  rebel,  a  traitor, 
a  criminal.     A  short  notice  of  his  chief  actions  may  in- 
dicate what  reason  there  is  for  either,   neither,  or  both 
of  these  estimates.      Simon  de  Montfort  was  no  doubt 
an  adventurer,  descended   from  a  race  of  counts  that 
had  played  for  high  stakes  with  very  little  capital,  and 
had  been  persistently  pushing  into  power  for  some  cen- 
turies.   His  father  was  the  scarcely  less  renowned  Simon 
de    Montfort,    the  persecutor   of  the   Albigensian   here- 
tics, who  had,  at  the  head  of  that  cruel  crusade,  been 
made   Count  of  Toulouse,  and  perished  in  making  good 
his  claims.     The  Counts  of  Evreux,  his  remoter  ances- 
tors, had  made  their  way  into  that  position  by  a  fortu- 
nate marriage  as  early  as  the  time  of  Henry  I.     They 
had  made  a  bold  attempt   in  the  time  of  Lewis  VI.  to 
claim  the  high  stewardship  of  France  ;   in   later  times 
one  of  the  family  had  held,  in  the  right  of  his  wife,  the 
earldom  of  Gloucester  after  the  death   of  Geoffrey  de 
Mandeville  and    Hawisia.     Earl   Simon,   the   Crusader, 
was  a  nephew  of  the  last  Earl  of  Leicester  of  the  house 
of  Beaumont,  on  whose  death  John  divided  his  earldom 
into  two,  that  of  Winchester  going  to  Saer  de  Quincy 
as  co-heir,  and  that  of  Leicester  to  Simon  de  Montfort. 
But  that  Simon,  although  he  was  Earl  of  Leicester,  had 
little  to  do  with  England;  he  was  an  enemy  of  John, 
and  the  barons  are  said,  at  one  time,  to  have  thought 
of  calling  him  in  as  a  deliverer.     His  crusade  against 
the  Albigenses  was  directed  really  against  Raymond  of 
Toulouse,  who  was  John's  brother-in-law ;  and  as  John  was 
never  loth  to  keep  the  lands  of  his  enemies  in  his  own 


hands,  the  revenues  of  the  earldom  seldom  found  their 
way  into  the  treasury  of  the  Montforts.  This  Simon  had 
four  sons;  Amalric,  Count  of  Montfort,  was  the  eldest, 
and  the  second  Simon,  the  hero  of  the  barons'  war,  was 
the  youngest.  Amalric,  of  course,  was  his  father's  heir,  but 
he  contented  himself  with  his  patrimony  in  France ;  and 
the  two  intermediate  brothers  being  now  dead,  Simon, 
according  to  Matthew  Paris,  attempted,  at  the  Council 
of  Bourges,  in  1226  or  1227,  to  recover  the  county  of 
Toulouse,  trailing  to  do  this,  he  came  to  England  to  see 
whether  he  could  not  get  the  earldom  of  Leicester,  and 
his  brother  consented  to  make  over  to  him  such  rights 
in  it  as  he  possessed.  After  some  years  he  succeeded. 
Henry  allowed  the  arrangement  between  the  brothers  to 
take  effect,  and  gave  Simon  the  honour  of  Leicester.  He 
had  already  failed  in  two  attempts  to  make  himself  a 
great  position  by  marriage  with  the  countesses  of  Flan- 
ders and  Boulogne.  In  a  third  he  was  more  successful; 
Henry  connived,  as  it  was  said,  at  a  clandestine  marriage 
between  Simon  and  his  sister  Eleanor,  the  widow  of  the 
second  William  Marshall — an  unlawful  marriage,  as  she 
had  taken  a  vow  of  widowhood — and  soon  after,  in 
1239,  gave  him  the  title  of  Earl.  Richard  of  Cornwall, 
and  others  of  the  baronage  were  exceedingly  angry  at 
this,  and  Henry  himself  in  no  long  time  quarrelled  with 
his  new  brother-in-law,  who  had  to  leave  England,  and 
had  some  expense  and  trouble  in  obtaining  the  recog- 
nition of  his  marriage  as  lawful. 

For  some  years  he  appears  to  have  been  coolly  treated, 
and  perhaps  nursed  his  wrongs.  But  up  to  this  time 
there  is  little  about  him  to  distinguish  him  from  the  other 
foreigners  with  whom  England  swarmed.  By  what  pro- 
cess he  educated  himself  into  the  ideas  and  position  of 
an  English  baron  we  have  but  little  information  to  show. 
It  is  clear,  however,  that  he  did  so ;  that  he  had  much 


k 


1 86 


TJie  Early  Pla7itagencts. 


CH.   IX. 


A.D.  1257. 


Simon  de  Mojitfort. 


187 


intercourse  with  the  clergy,  especially  >vith  that  section 
which,  with  Bishop  Grosseteste,  was  bent  on  resisting 
the  royal  exactions  and  papal  usurpations ;  that  he  de- 
voted  much  thought  and  care  to  the  education  of  his 
children;  and  that  when,  in  the  parliament  of  1244,  the 
prelates  and  barons  selected  a  committee  to  treat  with 
the  king,  his  name,  with  that  of  Earl  Richard  of  Corn- 
wall, was  among  the  first  chosen.  In  his  own  earl- 
dom, nearly  the  only  notice  found  of  him  is  that  he 
persecuted  the  Jews  of  Leicester,  and  this  slight  indi- 
cation may  show  that  he  had  somewhat  of  his  father's 
spirit — that  some  persecuting  zeal  was  an  ingredient  in 
his  peculiar  form  of  piety.  From  this  date  we  find  him, 
however,  employed  more  and  more  in  public  business, 
and  for  several  years  together  commanding  in  Gascony, 
where  the  complaints  of  his  severity  and  impolicy  were  pro- 
bably occasioned  as  much  by  Henry's  deceitful  treatment 
of  his  foreign  adherents  as  by  Simon's  own  fault.  Of  this, 
however,  it  is  impossible  to  judge  certainly  ;  we  only  know 
that  the  bitter  feelings  which  existed  between  him  and 
the  king  were  constantly  more  and  more  embittered,  and 
that  Earl  Richard,  although  sometimes  he  was  obliged 
to  take  Simon's  part,  had  the  same  personal  antipathy, 
which  grew  greater  and  produced  terrible  results  in  the 
next  generation.  In  Gascony,  however,  Simon  must  have 
gained  a  good  deal  of  political  experience ;  and  he  was 
already  by  inherited  talent  and  early  training  a  highly 
accomplished  soldier  and  tactician. 

Such  was  the  man  whom  Henrv  III.  had  raised  and 
trained  to  his  own  confusion  :  a  brilliant,  religious,  en- 
terprising, experienced  man,  who  had  cultivated  popu- 
larity ;  and  who  although  a  foreigner,  an  adventurer,  a  man 
descended  from  high  feudal  parentage  and  an  adept  in  all 
the  lessons  of  feudal  insubordination,  had  yet  fitted  him- 
self to  be  a  leader  of  the  English  baronage  in  a  crusade 


i- 


i 


against  tyranny.     Earl  Simon's  greatness  throws  all  the 
other  actors  into  the  shade,  for  Bishop  Grosseteste,  who 
f  he  had  hved  would  no  doubt  have  taken  a  great  place 
m  the  story,  d,ed  m  ,253;   and  of  the  other  prelates 
besides  Archbishop    Boniface,    the    only  one    o^    ntuch 
personal  emnencc  at  the  time  was  Walter  of  Cantilupe 
Bishop  of  Worcester.     Of  the  barons  the  most  eminent' 
were  Richard  de  Clare,  Earl  of  Gloucester,  and  Willi,  m 
of  Ferrers,  the  last  Earl  of  Derby  of  that  house  which 
had  been  engaged  in  every  conspiracy  and  intrigue  since 
the  days  of  Stephen. 

The  struggle  opens  at  the  parliament  held  at  Mid- 
lent  at  \\  estminster,  in  r.57,  when  the  king  presented 
his  son  Eonumd  to  the  barons  as  King  of  slcily,  and 
announced  that  he  had  pledged  the  kingdom  to  the 
Pope  for  140000  marks.  He  demanded  an  aid,  a  tenth 
of  ail  church  revenue,  and  the  income  of  all  vacant 
benefices  for  five  years.  The  clergy  remonstrated.  The 
ears  of  all  tingled,  says  the  historian,  and  their  hearts 
died  within  them,  but  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  52,000 
marks,  and  was  encouraged  to  try  again.     This  he  did 

alter  taster  at  London.  This  assembh-  met  on     »f  "58. 
April  9,  and  continued  until  May  5.    Everyone  brought  up 
h.s  grievances ;  the  king  insisted  on  ha^■ing  money.     The 
Pope  had  pledged  himself  to  the  merchants,  Henry  had 
pledged  hin,self  to  the   Pope;   was  all  Christendom  to 
be  bankrupt.'    The  barons  listened  with  impatience:  at 
last  the  time  was  come  for  reform,  and  the  king  was 
obliged  to  yield.     On  May  2  he  consented  that  a  parlia- 
ment  should  be  called  at  O.^ford  within  a  month  after 
\\  husuntide,  and  that  then  and  there  a  commission  of 
twenty-four  persons  should  be  constituted,  twelve  mem- 
bers of  the  royal    council   already   chosen   and   twelve 
elected  by   the  barons;   then  if  the   barons    would   do 


i88 


The  Early  Plantagcncts. 


A.D.    1257. 


A.D.    \2^%. 


Simon  de  Moutfoi-t. 


189 


their  best  to  get  the  king  out  of  his  difficulties  by  a 
pecuniary  aid,  he  would,  with  the  advice  of  these  twenty- 
four,  draw  up  measures  for  the  reform  of  the  state  of 
the  kingdom,  the  royal  household,  and  the  Church.  It 
will  be  remembered  that  in  12 15  the  execution  of  the 
articles  of  Magna  Carta  was  committed  to  twenty-tive 
barons,  wich  power  to  constrain  the  king  to  make  the 
necessary  reforms  :  in  this  case  the  arrangement  is 
somewhat  different,  although  the  method  of  proceeding 
is  not  quite  dissimilar,  and  both  alike  afforded  prece- 
dents for  that  superseding  of  the  royal  authority  by  a 
commission  of  government  which  we  find  in  the  reigns 
of  Edward  II.  and  Richard  II. 

At  Oxford  the  parliament  met  on  June   11,  and  the 
barons  presented  a  long  list  of  grievances  which  they 
Parliament      insisted  should  be  reformed.     If  this  list  be 
of  Oxford.       compared  with  the  list  of  grievances  on  which 
Magna    Carta   was    drawn    up,  it    will    be  found    that 
many  points  are  common  to  the  two  documents.   We  may 
thus  infer  that,  notwithstanding  the  constant  conhrma- 
tions  of  the  charters  which  were  issued  by  the  king,  the 
observance  of  them  was  e\  aded  by  violence  or  by  chica- 
nery ;  that  the  king  enforced  some  of  the  most  offensive 
feudal  rights,  and  that  his  officers  found  little  check  on 
their  exactions.    Castles  had  been  multiplied,  the  itinerant 
judges  had  made  use  of  their  office  to  exact  large  sums 
in  the  shape  of  fines,  and  the  sheriffs  had  oppressed  the 
country  in  the  same  way.     English  fortresses  had  been 
placed  in  the  hands  of  foreigners,  and  the  forest  laws 
had  been  disregarded.    A  great  number  of  other  evil  cus- 
toms are  now  recounted.     But,  strange  to  say,  there  is  no 
proposal  to  restore  the  missing  articles  of  the  Charter 
of  Runnymede,  by  which  taxation  without  the  consent 
of  the  national  council  is  forbidden. 

These  grievances  were  to  be  redressed  before  the  end 


'r^ 


of  the  year ;  and  the  aliens  were  to  be  removed  at  once 
from  all  places  of  trust.  But  this  was  not  the  most  critical 
part  of  the  business.  The  Provisions  of  Oxford,  as 
they  were  called,  were  intended  to  be  much  more  than 
an  enforcement  of  Magna  Carta ;  a  body  of  Provisions 
twenty-four  was  chosen,  twelve  bv  the  king-  ^^  Oxford, 
twelve  by  the  earls  and  barons,  to  reform  the  grievances ; 
of  the  king's  twelve  the  most  eminent  were  his  three 
half-brothers,  the  Lusignans,  his  nephew  Henry  of 
Cornwall,  and  the  Earls  of  Warenne  and  Warwick; 
of  the  baronial  twelve  the  chief  were  the  Bishop  of 
Worcester,  the  Earls  of  Leicester,  Gloucester,  and  Here- 
ford, Roger  Mortimer,  Hugh  Bigot,  and  Hugh  le  Des- 
penser.  A  next  step  was  to  restore  the  three  great 
dignities  of  the  administration  which  had  been  so^long 
in  al^eyance;  Hugh  Bigot  was  made  justiciar,  but  the 
great  seal  still  remained  in  the  hands  of  a  keeper  who 
must  be  supposed  to  have  taken  the  oath  of  chancel- 
lor. The  king  was  then  provided  with  a  council  of 
fifteen  advisers :  each  of  the  two  twelves  selected  two 
out  of  the  other  twelve,  and  these  four  nominated 
the  fifteen,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  whole  twenty- 
four.  The  chiefs  of  this  permanent  council  were  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the  Bishop  of  Worcester, 
and  the  Earls  of  Gloucester,  and  Leicester.  The  fifteen 
were  to  hold  three  annual  sessions,  or  parliaments, 
in  February,  June,  and  October;  and  with  them  the 
barons  were  to  negotiate  through  another  committee  of 
twelve.  There  was  another  body  still,  also  consisting  of 
twenty-four  members,  who  had  the  special  task  of  nego- 
tiating the  financial  aids ;  and  the  original  twenty-four 
were  empowered  to  undertake  the  reform  of  the  Church. 
Of  course  these  several  committees  contained  very  much 
the  same  elements,  the  Earls  of  Leicester,  Gloucester, 
and  Norfolk,  Roger  Mortimer,  and  others  being  elected  to 


1 90 


The  Early  Plantagcnets.       a.d.  1259. 


A.D.  1263. 


Simon  dc  Montfort. 


191 


each.  It  was  a  cumbrous  arrangement,  and  scarcely 
likely  to  be  permanent,  but  was  accepted  with  great 
solemnity.  Everybody  was  sworn  to  obey,  and  several 
minor  measures  were  ordered  to  give  security  to  the  new 
constitution.  It  is  this  framework  of  government,  the 
permanent  council  of  fifteen,  the  three  annual  parliaments, 
the  representation  of  the  community  of  the  realm  through 
twelve  representative  barons,  that  is  historically  known 
as  the  Constitution  of  the  Provisions  of  Oxford.  Henry 
was  again  and  again  forced  to  swear  to  it,  and  to  proclaim 
it  throughout  the  country.  The  grievances  of  the  barons 
were  met  by  a  set  of  ordinances  called  the  Provisions  of 
Westminster,  which  were  produced  after  some  trouble 
in  October  1259.  Before  the  scheme  had  begun  to  work 
the  foreign  favourites  and  kinsmen  fled  from  the  court 
and  were  allowed  to  quit  the  country  with  some  scanty 
remnant  of  their  ill-gotten  gains  Their  departure  left 
the  royalist  members  of  the  new  administration  in  a 
hopeless  minority. 

England  had  now,  it  would  appear,  adopted  a  new 
form  of  government,  but  it  must  have  been  already  suffi- 
Disunion  cicntly  clcar  that  so  many  rival  interests  and 
among  the  ambitious  Icadcrs  would  not  work  together, 
that  Henry  would  avail  himself  of  the  first 
pretext  for  repudiating  his  promises,  and  that  a  civil 
war  would  almost  certainly  follow.  The  first  year  of 
this  provisional  government  passed  away  quietly.  The 
King  of  the  Romans,  who  returned  from  Germany  in 
January  1259,  was  obliged  to  swear  to  the  provisions. 
In  November  Henry  went  to  France,  returning  in  April 
1260.  Immediately  on  his  return  he  began  to  intrigue 
for  the  overthrow  of  the  government,  sent  for  absolution 
to  Rome,  and  prepared  for  war.  Edward,  his  eldest  son, 
tried  to  prevent  him  from  breaking  his  word,  but  before 
the  king  had  begun  the  contest  the  two  great  earls  had 


-t 


quarrelled :  Gloucester  could  not  bear  Leicester,  Leicester 
could  not  bear  a  rival.     A  general  reconciliation  was  the 
prelude  as  usual   to   a   general   struggle.      In  February 
1 261    Henry  repudiatcjil  his  oath,  and  seized  the  Tower. 
In  June  he  produced  ca  papal  Bull  which  absolved  him 
from  his  oath  to  observe  the  Provisions.     The  chiefs  of 
the  government,  Leicester  and  Gloucester,  took  up  arms, 
but  they  avoided  a  battle.     The  summer  was  occupied 
with  preparations  for  a  struggle,  and   peace  was   made 
in  the  winter.   ,  In  1262  Henry  went  again  to  France  for 
six  months,  and  on  his  return  again  swore  to  the  Provi- 
sions ;  that  year  the  Earl  of  Gloucester  died,  and  Edward 
began  to  draw  nearer  to  his  father.     Simon  was  without 
a  rival,  and  no   doubt  created  in  Edward  that  spirit  of 
jealous  mistrust  which  never  again  left  him.     The  next 
year  was  one  of  open  war.     The  young  Earl      j  he  Rarons' 
of  Gloucester  refused  to  swear  allegiance  to     ^^^'■'  ^-^^s- 
Edward;    Simon   insisted   that   the  pertinacious  ahens 
should  be  again  expelled.     Twice  if  not  three  times  in 
this  year  Henry  was  forced  to  confirm  the  Provisions  ; 
but  Edward  saw  that  they  had  now  become  a  mere  form 
under  which  the  sovereignty  of  Simon  de  Montfort  was 
scarcely  hidden ;    and  the  increasing  conviction  of  this 
induced  the  barons  to  refer  the  whole  question  to  the  arbi- 
tration of  Lewis    IX.  of  France.     This   was    Award  of 
done  on  December  16,  1263.    An  examination     Lewis  ix. 
of  the  names  of  the  barons  which  appear  in  the  two  hsts  of 
sureties  who  undertake  the  carrying  out  of  this  arbitration 
shows  that  Simon  de  Montfort  had  now  lost  some  of  his 
most  important  allies.    The  young  Earl  of  Gloucester  ap- 
pears in  neither  list,  but  the  Earls  of  Norfolk  and  Here- 
ford, Hugh  Bigot,  and  Roger  Mortimer  are  now  on  the 
king's  side,  and  no  earl  except  Leicester  himself  appears  in 
the  baronial  party,  the  foremost  layman  there  being  Hugh 
le  Despenser,  the  justiciar.     There  can  be  no  doubt  that 


192 


The  Em-ly  Plaiitagcucts. 


A.D.    126' 


since  the  outbreak  of  the  war  much  moral  weight  ha'd  fallen 
to  the  royalists,  and  it  seems  most  probable  that  Earl 
Simon  had  rather  offended  than  propitiated  the  men  who 
regarded  themselves  as  his  equals.     The  conduct  of  the 
barons  after  the  award  of  Lewis  IX.  seems  to  place  them 
in  the  wrong,  and  to  show  either  that  Simon  de  Mont- 
fort's  views  had  developed,  under  the  late  changes,  in  the 
direction  of  personal  ambition  and  selfish  ends,  or  that 
other  causes  were  at  work  of  which  we  have  no  informa- 
tion.    The  barons  were  so  distinctly  justified  in  their  first 
proceedings  that  an  equitable  consideration  cannot  be 
refused  to  their  later  difficulties.     Both  parties,  however 
equally  bound  themselves  to  abide  by  the  arbitration. 

Henry  took  the  wise  course  of  being  personally  pre- 
sent on  the  occasion   and  taking  his  son   Edward  with 
him.     Some  of  the  barons  also  appeared  in  person,  but 
not  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  who  was  supporting  the  Welsh 
princes  in  their  war  with  Mortimer,  a  method  of  con- 
tinuing the  struggle  which  was  neither  honest   nor  pa- 
triotic.    At  Amiens  Lewis  heard  the  cause,  and  did  not 
long  hesitate  about  his  answer,  which  was  delivered  on 
January  23,  1264.     By  this  award  the  King  of  France 
entirely  annulled  the  Provisions  of  Oxford,  and  all  en- 
gagements which  had  been  made  respecting  them.     Not 
content  with  doing  this  in  general  terms,  he  forbade  the 
making  of  new  statutes,  as  proposed  and  carried  out  in 
the  Provisions  of  Westminster,  ordered  the  restoration  of 
the  royal  castles  to  the  king,  restored  to  him  the  power 
of  nominating  the  officers  of  state  and  the  sheriffs,  the 
nomination  of  whom  had  been  withdrawn  from  him  by 
the  Provisions  of  Oxford;    he  annulled  the  order  that 
natives  of   England   alone   should  govern  the  realm   of 
England,  and  added  that  the  king  should  have  full  and 
free  power  in  his  kingdom  as  he  had  had  in  time  past. 
AU  this  was  in  the  king's  favour.     The  arbitrator,  how- 


I 


V 


A.D.    1263. 


Simon  de  Montfort. 


193 


the  decision 
of  the 
French 
king. 


ever,  added  that  all  the  charters  issued  before  the  time 
of  the  Provisions  should  hold  good,  and  that  all  parties 
should  condone  enmities  and  injuries  arising  from  the 
late  troubles. 

Lewis  mentions  as  his  chief  motive  for  thus  giving 
the  verdict  practically  in  the  king's  favour  the  fact  that 
the  Provisions  had  already  been  annulled  by  Motives  fg^ 
the  Pope,  and  the  parties  bound  by  them 
released  from  their  oaths.  But  we  cannot 
suppose  that  he  was  entirely  guided  by  this 
consideration ;  it  is  probable  that  he  did  not  understand 
the  limits  which  the  growth  of  constitutional  life  had 
put  upon  the  exercise  of  royal  power  as  early  as  Magna 
Carta,  or  the  shameless  way  in  which  Henry  had  broken 
his  engagements.  He  may,  very  reasonably,  have  re- 
garded England  as  much  the  same  sort  of  country  as  his 
own,  and  have  seen  in  the  strengthening  of  the  royal 
power — a  thing  absolutely  necessary  in  France  at  the 
time — a  measure  as  necessary  for  England.  He  may 
have  been  moved  by  Henry's  own  pleadings,  or  by  the 
more  weighty  if  more  moderate  statements  which  we  can 
imagine  were  laid  before  him  by  Edward.  And  the  care 
that  he  shows  for  the  restoration  of  peace  and  good  feeling 
may  well  be  interpreted  to  prove  that,  although  his  award 
was  more  favourable  to  the  one  party  than  to  the  other, 
he  yet  did  not  think  the  defeated  party  entirely  in  the 


wrong. 


the  award 
of  Lewis. 


The  award,  however,  was  entirely  in  favour  of  the 
crown.  The  new  form  of  government  was  already  giving 
way,  and  both  parties  might  have  and  ought  Effects  of 
to  have  submitted  to  the  sentence.  Henry 
had  had  a  severe  lesson,  and  might  not  offend 
again  ;  the  baronage  had  had  their  chance,  and  had  been 
found  wanting  both  in  unity  of  aim  and  in  administra- 
tive power.  Neither  party,  however,  acquiesced  in  the 
M.  H.  O 


194 


The  Early  Plantagenets.       a,d.  1264. 


admonition,  and  each  of  course  laid  on  the  other  the 
blame  of  disregarding  a  judgment  by  which  both  had 
sworn  to  stand.  At  first  the  war  was  continued  on  the 
Welsh  marches  principally  ;  Edward's  forces  assisting 
Mortimer,  and  Montfort  continuing  to  support  Llewelyn, 
the  Prince  of  Wales,  his  opponent.  But  when  the  king 
returned  from  France,  as  he  did  in  February,  the  struggle 
became  general. 

The  responsibility  for  this  rests  unquestionably  with 
Simon  de  Montfort ;  how  far  he  was  justified  by  the  great- 
Milita  ^^^^  ^^  ^^  necessity  is  another  question      He 

successes  of  had  the  sympathy  of  the  Londoners,  which 
ofVmon  de  was  probably  shared  by  the  burghers  of  the 
Montfort.  great  towns,  that  of  the  clergy,  except  those 
who  were  led  by  the  Pope  entirely,  of  the  universities,  and 
of  the  great  body  of  the  people.  The  barons  by  themselves 
would  have  treated  with  the  king ;  they  would  probably 
have  thrown  over  Earl  Simon,  if  only  they  could  have 
got  rid  of  the  foreigners  and  had  England  for  the 
English.  On  March  31,  however,  whilst  negotiations 
were  proceeding,  the  Londoners  broke  into  riot  against 
the  king,  and  he  in  his  anger  put  an  end  to  the  consulta- 
tion. The  war  began  favourably  for  the  king;  North- 
ampton was  taken,  Nottingham  opened  her  gates,  and 
Tutbury,  the  castle  of  the  Ferrers,  surrendered  to  Ed- 
ward. Earl  Simon  had  his  successes  too,  and  captured 
Warwick.  Both  parties  then  turned  southwards.  Earl 
Simon  besieged  Rochester,  the  king  marched  to  relieve  it. 
Henry  also  took  Tunbridge,the  Earl  of  Gloucester's  castle, 
for  the  young  Earl  of  Gloucester  was  now  on  the  barons' 
side ;  then  he  collected  his  forces  at  Lewes,  where  he 
arrived  in  the  first  week  of  May. 

Lewes  castle  belonged  to  the  Earl  of  Warenne,  who 
had  throughout  stood  on  the  king's  side.  The  barons  also 
collected  their  host   in   the   immediate  neighbourhood  ; 


A.D.  1264.  Simon  dc  Montfort. 


195 


I 


but  before  fighting  they  made  one  bid  for  peace.     The 
two  bishops  who  were  the  chief  political  advisers  of  the 
barons — the  Bishops  of  Worcester  and  London — brought 
the  proposition  to  the  king :    they  would  give 
50,000  marks  in  payment  for  damages  done     Le"el°^ 
in  the  late  struggle,  if  he  would  confirm  the     \ictor>'  of 

T-»         •    •  r   ^  r  r^i  r-  ^he  Barons. 

Provisions  of  Oxford.     The  oner  was  sealed 
by  the  Earls  of  Leicester  and  Gloucester,  and  dated  on 
May  13.    The  king  returned  an  answer  of  defiance,  which 
was  accompanied  by  a  formal  challenge  on  the  part  of 
the  King  of  the  Romans,  Edward,  and  the  rest  of  the 
royalist  barons.      No  time  was  lost ;  on  the  very  next 
day  the  battle  was  fought,  and  fortune  declared  against 
the  king.     He  had  the  larger  force,  but  all  the  skill,  care, 
and  earnestness  was  on  the  side  of  the  barons.     Simon, 
who  had  broken  his  leg  a  few  months  before— an  acci- 
dent which  prevented  him  from  going  to  meet  the  King 
of  France  at  Amiens — had  been  obliged  to  use  a  carriage 
during  the  late  marches  ;  he  now  posted  his  carriage  in  a 
conspicuous  place,  and  himself  went  elsewhere.    Edward, 
thinking  that  if  he  could  capture  the   earl  the  struggle 
would  be  over,  attacked  the  post  where  the  carriage  was 
seen,  routed  and  pursued  the  defenders,  and  going  too  far 
in  pursuit,  left  his  father  exposed  to  the  attack  of  the  earl. 
King  Henry  was  a  brave  man,  but  of  course  no  general, 
for  he  had  never  seen  anything  like  real  war  before.     He 
defended  himself  stoutly ;  two  horses  were  killed  under 
him,  and  he  was  wounded  and  bruised  by  the  swords 
and  maces  of  his  adversaries,  who  were  in  close  hand-to- 
hand  combat.     When  he  had  lost  most  of  his  immediate 
retainers  he  retreated  into  the  priory  of  Lewes.     The 
King  of  the  Romans,  who  had  commanded  the  centre  of 
the  royal  army,  was  already  compelled  to  retreat,  and, 
whilst   Henry  was  still  struggling,  had  been  taken  cap- 
tive  in  a   windmill,  which   made   the   adversaries   very 

o  2 


196 


The  Early  Plaiitagencts.       a.d,  1264. 


A.D.  1265. 


Simon  de  Montfort. 


197 


merry.  A  general  rout  followed.  The  baronial  party 
was  victorious  long  before  Edward  returned  from  his 
unfortunate  pursuit,  and  many  of  the  king's  most  power- 
ful friends  secured  themselves  by  flight.  The  next  day 
an  arbitration  was  determined  on,  called  the  Mise  of 
Lewes,  and  the  king  gave  himself  and  his  son  into  the 
hands  of  Simon,  who,  from  that  time  to  the  end  of  the 
struggle  in  the  next  year,  ruled  in  the  king's  name. 

The  Mise  of  Lewes  contained  seven  articles,  the  most 
important  of  which  prescribed  the  employment  of  native 
The  Mise  of  counscllors,  and  bound  the  king  to  act  by  the 
Lewes.  advice  of  the  council  which  would  be  provided 

for  him.  Measures  were  also  taken  for  obtaining  a  new 
arbitration.  Thus  England  for  the  second  time  within 
seven  years  passed  under  a  new  constitution.  The  system 
devised  at  the  Council  of  Oxford  in  1258  was  not  revived, 
but  a  parliament  was  called  for  June  22,  to  devise  or 
t  ratify  a  new  scheme.  This  assembly  comprised  four 
knights  from  each  shire,  as  well  as  the  ordinary  elements, 
the  bishops  and  abbots,  earls  and  barons,  who  formed  the 
usual  parliament.  In  it  the  new  form  of  government  was 
drawn  up.  This  time  the  king  was  bound  to  act  by  the 
advice  of  nine  counsellors.  Three  electors  or  nominators 
were  first  to  be  chosen — whether  by  the  whole  body  of  the 
parliament  or  by  the  barons  only,  it  is  not  said  ;  and  these 
three  were  to  name  the  nine.  Of  the  nine  three  were  to 
be  in  constant  attendance  on  the  king,  and  his  sovereign 
authority  was,  in  fact,  to  be  exercised  by  and  through 
them.  They  were  to  nominate  the  great  functionaries 
of  the  state  and  the  other  ministers  whose  appointment 
had  before  rested  with  the  king,  and  their  authority  was 
to  last  until  all  the  points  of  controversy  were  settled  by 
the  arbitration  provided  in  the  Mise  of  Lewes.  The 
three  electors  chosen  were  the  Earls  of  Leicester  and 
Gloucester     and    the    Bishop    of    Chichester,    Stephen 


<H  9>« 


Berksted,  a  man  who  comes  into  prominence  now  for 
the  first  time,  but  who  was  probably  the  agent  of  the 
constitutional  party  among  the  clergy,  which  had  been 
hitherto  represented  by  the  Bishop  of  Worcester. 

These  men  governed  England  until  the  battle  of 
Evesham.  But  their  reign  was  not  an  easy  or  peaceful 
one.  The  Pope  was  still  zealous  for  Henry,  (Conduct  of 
and  left  no  means  untried  by  which  the  bishops  the  new  Go- 
might  be  detached  from  the  barons.  The  ^^"™^"  • 
queen  collected  a  great  army  in  France  and  prepared  to 
invade  England,  assisted  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, her  uncle,  and  all  the  English  refugees  who  had 
come  under  the  rod  of  Earl  Simon.  Mortimer  also  made 
an  attempt  to  prolong  the  state  of  war  on  the  border. 
Nothing,  however,  came  of  these  preparations  during  this 
year  :  the  new  government  professed  itself  to  be  provi- 
sional, and  negotiations  were  resumed,  by  which  the  king 
of  France,  now  better  informed,  was  to  settle  all  contro- 
versies. In  December  a  summons  went  forth  for  a  new 
parliament. 

This   is   the   famous   parliament,  as  it   is   called,  of 
Simon   de   Montfort,  the   first  assembly  of  the  sort  to 
which   representatives  of  the  borough  towns     ^j^^  p^j.j. 
were  called ;  and  thus  to  some  extent  forms  a    mem  of         | 
landmark  in  English  history.    It  was  not  made     iySfort. 
a  precedent,  and  in  fact  it  is  not  till  thirty 
years  after  that  the  representatives  of  the  towns  begin    - 
regularly  to  sit  in  parliament ;  but  it  is  nevertheless  a 
very  notable  date.     Nor  was   the   assembly  itself  what 
would  be  called  a  full  and  free  parliament,  only  those 
persons  being  summoned  who  were  favourable   to   the 
new  regime  ;  but  five  earls   and   eighteen  barons,  and 
an  overwhelming  number  of  the  lower  clergy,  knights, 
and   burghers,  who  were  of  course  supporters  of  Earl 
Simon.     It  met  on  January  20,  1265,  and  did  not  effect 


1 9^  The  Early  Plantagencts.       a.  d.  i 265. 

much.  Edward,  however,  was  allowed  to  make  terms  for 
his  liberation,  and  Simon  secured  for  himself  and  his 
family  the  earldom  of  Chester,  giving  up  to  Edward, 
however,  other  estates  by  way  of  exchange.  The  libera- 
tion of  Edward,  who  was  released  on  the  condition  of 
surrendering  his  castles,  staying  for  three  years  in 
England  and  keeping  the  peace,  led  immediately  to 
the  earl's  overthrow.  Edward  was  to  live  under  sur- 
veillance at  Hereford— far  too  near  the  Mortimers  and 
the  Welsh  border.  This  was  carried  out ;  Edward  was 
liberated  on  March  10. 

Already,  however,  dissensions  were  springing  up.  Earl 
Simon's  sons,  who  did  very  little  credit  to  his  instructions, 
ippoiicyof  and  on  whom  perhaps  some  of  the  blame 
Simon's  '"''^y  ^Gst  of  which  Otherwise  it  is    impossible 

sorts.  to  acquit  their  father,  managed  to  offend  the 

Earl  of  Gloucester.  They  challenged  the  Clares  to  a 
tournament  at  Dunstable.  When  they  were  ready  and 
already  angry  and  prepared  to  turn  the  festive  meeting 
mto  a  battle,  it  was  suddenly  stopped  by  the  king  or  by 
Earl  Simon,  acting  in  his  name.  Gloucester  and  his 
kinsmen  deemed  themselves  insulted,  and  immediately 
began  to  negotiate  with  the  Mortimers;  and,  when  hos- 
tilities were  just  beginning,  Edward  escaped  from  his 
honourable  keeping  at  Hereford  and  joined  the  party. 

From  this  point  action  is  rapid.  Simon,  with  the 
king  in  his  train,  marched  into  the  West,  and  advanced 
Battle  of         into  South  Wales.     Edward  and  Gloucester 

Evesham.  ;^;r,^j  u      at      .•  .  -^»-'-« , 

Death  of  joined  by  Mortimer,  mustered  their  adherents 
Earl  Simon,  in  the  Cheshire  and  Shropshire  country,  and 
then  rushed  down  by  way  of  Worcester  on  the  town  of 
Gloucester,  which  surrendered  on  June  29,thus  cuttin^r  off 
the  earl's  return  to  England.  The  younger  Simon  de 
Montfort,  the  earl's  second  son,  was  summoned  to  his 
father's  aid,  came  up  from  Pevensey,  which  he  was  besiecr- 


A.D.   1267. 


Simon  dc  Montfort. 


199 


^^ 


1 


ing,  plundered  Winchester,  and  took  up  his  position  at 
Kenilworth.  His  father  meantime  had  got  back  to 
Hereford  and  formed  a  plan  for  surrounding  Edward. 
Edward,  however,  had  now  learned  vigilance  and  caution. 
He  took  the  initiative,  succeeded  in  routing  the  young 
Simon  and  nearly  capturing  Kenilworth,  and  thus  turned 
the  tables  on  the  earl.  Simon  marched  on  to  Evesham, 
expecting  to  meet  his  son  ;  instead  of  his  son  he  met  his 
nephew ;  and  on  August  4  the  battle  fought  there  reversed 
the  judgment  of  Lewes.  There  the  great  earl  fell,  and 
with  him  Hugh  le  Despenser,  the  barons'  justiciar, 
fighting  bravely,  but  without  much  hope. 

The  interest  of  the  reign,  and  indeed  its  importance, 
ends  here.     Simon  is  the  hero  of  the  latter  part  of  it, 
and  the  death  of  Simon   closes  it,  although     Dictum  de 
the  king  reigns  for  seven   years  longer.     The     Kenilworth. 
war  does    not  end  here  :  the   remnant  of  the   baronial 
party  held  out  at  Kenilworth  until  October  1266.     There 
the  last  supporters  of  Earl   Simon,  the  men  whose  atti- 
tude towards  Henry  was  unpardonable,  had  made  their 
stand.     The  final   agreement  which   was   drawn   up  at 
the  siege,  and  which  is  called  the  Dictum  de  Kenilworth, 
was  intended  to  settle  all  differences,  and  for  the  most 
part  it  did  so,  by  allowing  those  who  had  incurred  the 
penalty  of  forfeiture  to  redeem  their  possessions  by  fines. 
But  until  the  end  of  1267  there  were  constant  outbreaks. 
The  Isle  of  Ely  was  made  the  refuge  of  one  set,  just  as 
it  had  been  two  hundred  years  before,  in  the  time  of 
the    Conqueror.      The    Earl   of    Gloucester    raised    the 
banner  of  revolt,  declaring  that  the  king  was   dealing 
too  hardly  with   the  victims,  and   the   Londoners  were 
very   loth    indeed   to   lose   the    power  and   advantages 
which  they  had  secured  by  their  alliance  with  Simon. 
But  gradually  all  the  storni  subsided.     In   the    parlia- 
ment of  Marlborough,  in  November  1267,  the  king  re- 


200  The  Early  Plantagenets.   a.d.  1268-72. 

newed  the  Provisions  of  Westminster  of  1259,  by  which 
the  most  valuable   legal   reforms   of  the   constitutional 
party  became  embodied  in  statutes.     In  1268  the  papal 
legate  held  a  council  for  the  permanent  maintenance  of 
peace    and  Edward,  with   many  of  the  leading  nobles, 
took  the  Cross.     In  1270  they  went  on  Cmsade,  and  the 
Londoners  were  restored  to  favour.     In  December  1271 
the    King  of  the   Romans   died,  broken-hearted  at  the 
loss  of  his  son  Henry,  who  was  murdered  by  the  Mont- 
forts  at  \  iterbo.      In  1272,  on  November  16,  Henry  III 
^"nliu       ^'^^'  ^""^   '°  completely  was    the   kingdom 
frnn    TT  '   ,     T  ^^  P^""'^'  ^^^^  ^^\^^^^rC.,  although  far  away 
from  England,  was  at  once  proclaimed  king,  and  oaths 
ol  fealty  were  taken  to  him  in  his  absence. 

The  long  struggle  had  not  yet  come  to  an  end  :  more 
than  twenty  years  were  yet  to  elapse  before  Edward  { 
The  recognised    the   fundamental    justice    of   the 

?onSd.  ^^^'"'^  «^  ^'^  subjects,  and  admitted  all  the 
estates  to  that  full  and  equal  share  in  the 
action  of  the  country  which  lies  at  the  basis  of  our 
national  constitution.  We  may  perhaps  ask  whether 
Simon  de  Montfort  deserves  that  character  of  a  hero  the 

to 'hi'    ""tx"  ^''?'^'  "'^^^  ^^  ^''^^^^'y  -"nbuted 

Lr  .l-"''"  ''"^''    "^"""^P'  '^  ^^^^^'^^  the  motives 

that  swayed  him.     There  is   no   doubt   that    he  was   a 
great  man,  a  much  greater  man  as  he  was  a  much  better 
and  wiser  man   than    Henry,   and  perhaps  better    cer- 
tainly wiser  and  greater,  than  such  men  L  Gloucest/r 
But  that  he  was  absolutely  a  patriot,  or  absolutely  wise 
and   good,  It   IS  needless  to    affirm   and  impossible  to 
prove  ;  nor  is  it  necessary  that  in  attempting  to  estimate 
his  personal  eminence  we  are  to  look  at  him  through  the 
medium  of  his  political  glories.    There  is  no  question  that 
the  objects  which  were  aimed  at  by  the  baronial  policy 
were  necessary,  and  the  attainment  of  them,  when  they 


A.D.    1272. 


Simon  de  Montfort. 


201 


t 


were  attained,  was  beneficial.  It  is  possible,  though  not 
probable,  that  had  Simon  never  existed  those  objects 
would  never  have  been  attained ;  also  it  is  quite  possible 
that  if  he  had  not  forced  on  rebellion  the  objects  might 
have  been  attained  long  before  they  were.  That  we  can- 
not decide.  But  there  are  three  points  to  be  considered. 
Were  the  aims  of  the  barons  beneficial?  Was  Simon  a 
great  and  good  man  "i  Were  all  the  motives  of  his  party 
and  the  means  taken  to  realise  them  good  and  justifiable  "i 
To  the  first  two  questions  unhesitatingly  we  may  answer, 
yes.  The  barons  wanted  only  what  was  fair.  Simon  de 
Montfort  was  a  great  and  good  man.  The  third  ques- 
tion is  not  so  easy.  It  is  better  to  allow  that  there  were 
mixed  motives  and  unjustifiable  expedients.  Simon  was 
not  successful  as  an  administrator,  he  could  not  maintain 
peace  even  when  he  had  the  whole  kingdom  at  his  feet. 
His  expedient  for  governing  was  fanciful  and  cumbrous. 
His  own  conduct  in  his  elevation  was  not  quite  free  from 
the  charge  of  rapacity.  He  stands  out  best  and  most 
grandly  in  comparison  with  the  meanness  with  which  he 
was  surrounded — the  paltry,  faithless  king,  the  selfish 
and  unscrupulous  baronage.  He  is  relatively  great ;  but 
he  is  not  perfect.  He  is  scarcely  a  patriot — a  foreigner 
could  hardly  be  expected  to  be  so.  He  is  somewhat 
more  distinctly  a  hero,  but  he  never  quite  rids  himself 
of  the  character  of  the  adventurer. 


202 


The  Early  Planta^enets. 


A.D.    1272. 


CHAPTER  X. 


EDWARD   I. 

Position  and  character  of  Edward-The  Crusade-The  Accession- 
The  Conquest  of  Wales-Edwards  legal  reforms-Financial 
system— Growth  of  Parliament. 

If  ever  king  came  to  his  throne  with  a  distinct  under- 
standing of  the  work  that  lay  before  him,  that  king  must 
Political         have  been  Edward  I.     The  lessons  of  the  last 
EdwSd  I  °^    ^^^^^"^  >'^^^s  of  his  father's  reign  had  not  been 
thrown  away  upon  him.  He  had  been  trained 
for  the  task  of  reigning,  as  well  by  his  father's  mistakes 
and  misgovernment  as  by  the  means  which  the  nation, 
under  Earl  Simon  and  the  barons,  had  taken  to  remedy 
the  evils  which  those  mistakes  and  misgovernment  had 
produced.     He  must  have  known  that  England  required 
sound  laws  and  strong  administration,  an  adequate  organi- 
sation for  national  defence,  and  effective  methods  for  pre- 
serving internal  peace;  and  the  history  of  thelatereignmust 
have  taught  him  not  only  that  without  the  svmpathy  and 
CO- operation  of  the  nation  at  large  these  ends'  could  not  be 
secured,  but  that  the  nation  was  itself  readv,  educated 
sufficiently  and  imited  sufficiently,  to  give  the  aid  that  he 
required.    Earl  Simon  and  his  companions  had  perished 
,(  but  the  great  end  of  their  work  had  been  achieved /they 
had  made  it  impossible  for  a  king  again  to  rule  as  John 
had  ruled,  and  as   Henry  had   tried  to  rule.     They  had 
drawn  out   a  plan  of  reform   in  the  laws  which  Henry 
himself  had  accepted  after  their  death,  although  he  had 
struggled  against  it  and  evaded  it  whilst  they  lived-  for 
most  of  the  articles  which  had  been  forced  upon  him  at 


A.D.   1272. 


Edward  I. 


203 


^.tte'd'in'f '  "';'  Westminster  in   1.59,  he  had  re- 
enacted  m  the  great  statute  of  Marlborough,   in    1267 
He   had  reformed   his  expenditure;   he    had    observed 

nt'oT'the'^l'  "1'   °'""    '^^^^  -^^-^  ^h"  o^" 
sent   of   the    national   council ;    he  had  even  on   some 

occasions   called  together  representatives  of  the  to'^s 

far  mutated  his  rival  as  to  make  them  an  integral  part  of 
his  Parliament.  And  thus  the  great  contest  had  imme- 
diate effects  even  under  Henry  / 

ceivedThf  dlf  'T''  'Y-  ''^P^^  ^^"^"^'  h^  h'-^d  con- 
ceived  the  desire  of  satisfying  the  more  essential  needs 

of  his  people.     Hence,  perhaps,  in  part,  his     ./ 

wUlmgness  to  go  on  the  Crusade.     He  knew    -S/^' 

that  he  had  made  enemies  in  the  late  war-  a     C?u^adf 

few  years  would  heal  the  old  wounds.     He'knew  that  the 

and  was  exhausted ;  a  few  years'  rest  would  giJe  it   jr^! 

to  recruit.     If  he  were  likely  to  be  the  cause  ofunrest  "e 

was  better  away;  and  even  if  he  should  not  return  umH 

he  returned  as  king,  he  might  begin  his  new  caree,  Te 

But  Edward  was  qualified  to  do  far  more  than  merelv 
restore  the  strength  and  energy  of  his  fainting  peopTe' 
he  was  fitted  to  start  and  guide  them  on  a  new  ^     ' 

path  of  progress  He  seems  to  have  possessed,    1^,?:^'^ 
with  his  English  name,  the  desire,  which  he    '""''^>'- 
certainly  did  not  inherit,  of  being  an  English  kin<.  •  nf 
putting  himself  at  the  head  of  his  English  ^  ople  to  f.'ake 
England  a  great  power  in  Christendom.      His  ain^  no 

trneZTuTT/''''''^''  '"'  '''  d-endantrno": 
f-„w^      V  ''""^  "'  '""P'y  ^y  founding  a  grea 

family  inheritance  of  states  scattered  and  divided  b!t  as 
he  true  kmg  of  a  people  strong  in  the  feeling  of  natla 
unity,  bound  together  by  good  laws,  but  more  so  by  a 


204 


The  Early  Plantagenets. 


A.D. 


1272. 


/ 


sense  of  national  identity,  an  intelligent  participation  in 
all  national  designs.     The  restoration  of  law  and  order 
the  determination  that  the  English  crown  should  be  su- 
preme within  the  British  isles,  the  assertion  and  realisa- 
tion of  the  idea  that  the  king  should  work  as  the  leader 
and  spokesman  of  a  nation  that  could  enter  into  his  plans 
and  take  a  share  of  his  responsibilities-these  thoughts 
must  have  been  more  or  less  before  Edward's  mind  from 
the  beginning  of  his  reign.     Very  possibly  he   foresaw 
little  of  the  exact  path  in  which  he  was  going  to  walk- 
the  exact  points  of  legal  reform,  the  opportunities  for  con- 
quest, the  exigencies  in  which  he  would  have  to  act  for 
the  execution  of  his  great  designs,  no  doubt  broke  gra- 
dually  on  his  view  as  he  proceeded.     He  had  still  some- 
thing to  unlearn  as  well  as  something  to  learn.     If  in 
spirit  he  was  English,  he  was  in  education  and  by  asso- 
ciation French;  if  he  was  to  be  a  great  national  kin- 
Edward's        still  his  idea  of  kingship  had  too  much  of  an 
kingship  inherited  form,  a  form  which  it  did  not  surren- 

der  without  a  struggle.     His  greatness   was 
not  without  an  element  which  sets  it  far  above  all  the 
greatness  that  arises  from  mere  success;  he  had  to  learn 
and   he  learned,  to  rule  himself,  to  cast  away  his  own 
cherished  idea  of  reigning,  and  faithfully  and  honourably 
abide  by  the  conditions  which,  although  forced  upon  him 
he   saw  at  last  were  needed  for  the  true   realisation  of 
his  character  as  a  national  king.      He  was  not  free  from 
iaults;  it  is  no  small  part  of  his  grandeur  that,  in  a  nature 
so  strong  as  his,  and  with  temptations  so  powerful  as  those 
which  were  presented  to  him,  those  faults  had  so  little 
sway.     Of  an  eminently  legal   mind,  he  was  too  apt  to 
take  captious  advantage  of  his  legal  position,  somewhat 
prone  to  evade  responsibilities  to  which  the  letter  of  the 
law  did  not  bind  him.     This  weakness  was  the  source  of 
all  his  mistakes  and  the  cause  of  all  his  failures ;  but  this 


A.D.   1272. 


Edward  I. 


205 


was  all.  His  mistakes  were  few,  and  his  failures  fewer 
still.  Yet,  as  we  shall  see,  he  did  not  realise  all  that  he 
hoped,  nor  was  his  actual  contribution  to  national  pro- 
gress exactly  what  he  designed.  There  are  dark  lines  in 
his  history  as  well  as  bright  ones.  Of  his  schemes  some 
were  too  early,  some  too  late  for  success ;  and  in  some 
points  he  drew  the  outline  rather  than  built  the  fabric 
that  was  to  last.  Still  his  reign  is  a  great  era;  he  is  the 
great  lawgiver,  the  great  politician,  the  great  organiser 
of  the  mediaeval  English  polity. 

Edward  was  thirty-three  years  old  at  the  time  of  his 
father's  death.    He  had  been  for  eighteen  years  a  married 
man ;    his   wife,  Eleanor   of  Castille,  was  the 
sister  of  that  Alfonso  the  Wise  who  had  been     PnS'  °' 
the  competitor  of  Richard  of  Cornwall  for  the     ^^'^''''"■'^• 
imperial  crown,  a  noble  and  faithful  lady.     He  himself 
was  a  tall,  strong  man,  an  adept  in  all  knightly  accom- 
plishments, brave  to  rashness,  and  now  skilled  and  ex- 
perienced in  war.     His  crusade  had  not  been  a  successful 
one.     Late  m  starting,  he  had  reached  the  African  coast 
m   the  autumn  of  1270,  to  find  Lewis  IX.  dead,  and  the 
hopes  of  the  pilgrims  already  waning.    After  spending  the 
winter  in  Sicily,he  had,  in  May  i27i,gone  on,  like  Richard 
Coeur  ae  Lion,  to  Acre,  and  had  spent  more  than  a  year  in 
an  attempt  to  retrieve  the  fortunes  of  the  Frank  kingdom 
It  was  quite  m  vain.     Mutual  jealousies  and  universal 
mistrust  had  eaten  out  the  heart  of  the  Crusaders.     A  few 
dashing  exploits,  and  a  few  almost  wanton  inroads,  could 
do  little  more  than  exasperate  the  hatred  of  the  Moslem 
Edward  played  his  part  as  a  knight,  but  he  had  neither 
force  nor  opportunity  to  do  more.     Still  he  made  himself 
feared;  and  an  attempt  at  assassination  in  June   1^72 
warned  him  of  the  risks  he  was  running.     An  emissary  of 
the  Sultan  Bibars  struck  him  in  his  tent.     The  weapon 
was  poisoned,  it  was  said,  and  the  story  was  told  and  be- 


The  Early  Plantagciicts. 


206 

A.D.   1273. 

lieved  that  his  faithful  queen,  who  had  followed  him  in 
his  pilgrimage,  had  sucked  the  poison  from  the  wound 
Two  months  later  he  sailed  homewards,  thoroughlv  dis-' 
appointed,  and  heavily  burdened  with  the  cost  of  his  ex 

a^ctiL':%„    Pf  ""."•     "';'"'  ''°"'>'  P'-^'^^ding  on  his 
the  English      ^^>''^^'^en,  at  Capua,  in  January  J''?:?    here 

Tdeath  off'1  ,*'  ""^"  "'  ""'''  father's' death  and  o^ 

h^s  oace  1°  '''  '°"  ^°'^"' "  '^''>-  "f  =■=<■  Quickening 

h.s  pace,  he  went  on  at  once  to  Rome,  visited  the  Pope  at 

Orvieto  and  crossed  by  the  Mont  Cenis  pass  to  Lvons  • 

or  h-: French"'  "'"'=  '^  "''  ''"""^'^  "^  ^'"^  ^'^'^^P^^^- 
tor  his  French  provinces  ;  and  then  into  Gasconv  where 

Enrhndt'lT'  '"^  ^""^''^^  ''''  ^'"''^  "^  ^-"^  "-  - 
iingiancl  to  be  crowned. 

HI.  passed  on  at  once  to  his  son.     There  was  no  formal 
interregnum  such  as  had  always  occurred  be- 
fore, between  the  death  of  the  old  king  and 
the  coronation  of  the  new.     Edward  was  pro- 
claimed without  being  waited  for.     The  kincr's 
peace  was  maintained  by  the  royal  council,  and 
the  three  mmisters  to  whom,  before  he  started,  he  had 
committed  ihe  defence  of  his  private   interests,  under- 
took to  govern  England  in  his  stead.    Archbishop  GifTard 
of  \ork,  Roger  Mortimer,  the  great  lord  of  the   Welsh 
Marches,  who  had  helped  him  so  well  in  1265,  and  Robert 
Burnell,  his  confidential  chaplain,  the  man  who  was  to 
be  his  prime  minister  during  half  his  reign,  acted   as 
regents  m  his  place,  and  were  at  once  recognised  bv  the 
baronage  and  nation  as  his  agents.   Competitor  there  was 
none.     Gilbert  of  Gloucester,  the  brilliant  and  somewhat 
erratic  earl  who  had  tried  to  act  as   arbiter  in  the  last 
scenes  of  the  barons'  war,  and  had  lost  the  confidence  of 
both  parties,  had  sworn  to  King  Henry  on  his  deathbed 
that  he  would  maintain  the  rights  of  Edward      He  as 


I 


A.D.   1274-5. 


Edward  L 


207 


Administra- 
tion of  the 
kingdom 
dunng 
Edward's 
absence. 


J 


J 


i 


the  first  baron  of  the  kingdom,  took  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  new  king  at  his  father's  funeral.  Early  in  1273  a 
great  assembly  of  all  estates  of  the  realm,  an  assembly 
not  only  of  barons  and  prelates,  but  of  knightly  repre- 
sentatives of  the  shires  and  citizens  deputed  by  every  city, 
met  at  Westminster,  and  bound  themselves  by  the  same 
oath.  One  or  two  faint  reports  of  local  tumult  served 
only  to  mark  the  profoundness  of  the  general  peace.  The 
government  worked  in  quiet ;  even  money  was  raised 
without  much  murmuring. 

On  August  2,  1274,  Edward  I.  landed  at  Dover,  and 
on  the  19th  he  was  crowned.  At  once  the  work  of  his 
reign  began.  He  was  a  warrior  and  a  lawgiver  Coronation 
by  nature,  education,  and  opportunity  ;  the  °^  Edward, 
exigencies  of  the  time  made  him  a  financier  also;  and 
the  occasion  speedily  arose  for  him  to  display  his  powers 
in  each  capacity. 

The  princes  of  North  Wales  had  long  been  a  sharp 
thorn  in  the  side  of  England.  Neither  force  nor  friendly 
alliance  had  been  strong  enough  to  keep  them  Turbulence 
quiet.  The  love  of  independence,  the  inherit-  w,!^t 
ance  of  proud,  although  illusory  traditions,  the  princes. 
attachment  of  an  affectionate  people,  the  possession  of 
remote  mountain  fastnesses,  the  antipathy  as  strongly 
felt  towards  the  Norman  as  it  had  been  towards  the 
Saxon,  combined  to  prevent  either  peace  or  submission. 
All  the  other  races  had  combined  on  the  soil  of  Britain, 
the  Welsh  would  not.  The  demands  of  feudal  homage 
made  by  the  kings  of  England  were  evaded  or  repudiated; 
the  intermarriages  by  which  Henry  II.  and  John  had 
tried  to  help  on  a  national  agreement  had  in  every  case 
failed.  In  every  internal  difficulty  of  English  politics  the 
Welsh  princes  had  done  their  best  to  embarrass  the 
action  of  the  kings  ;  they  had  intrigued  with  every  aspi- 
rant for  power,  had  been  in  league  with  every  rebel.     At 


208  The  Early  Plantagejicts.        a.d.  1276. 

the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Henry  III.  thev  had  con- 
spired with  Falkes  de  Breautd  against  the  Marshalls  ;  at 
the  close  of  it  they  were  in  intimate  alHance  with  'the 
Montforts.      Not  only  so  ;  the  necessity  of  guarding  the 
Welsh  border  had  caused  the  English  kings  to  found 
on  the  March  a  number  of  feudal  lordships,  which  were 
privileged  to  exercise  almost  sovereign  jurisdictions,  and 
exempted  from  the  common  operation  of  the  English  law 
The  Mortimers  at  Chirk  and  Wigmore,  the    Bohuns  at 
Hereford  and  Brecon,  the  Marshalls  at  Pembroke,  and  the 
Clares  in  Glamorgan,  were  out  of  the  reach  of  the  king,  and 
often  turned  against  one    another  the   arms  which'had 
been  given  them  to  overawe  the  Welsh.     There  they  had 
an  open  ground  for  combats  which  they  could  not  wage 
where  English  law  was  strong.    So  long  as  the  Welsh  were 
left  free  to  rebel  the  Marchers  must  be  left  free  to  fight. 
Edward  had  long  known  this.     He  too  had  been  ''put 
in  the  position  of  a  Marcher.     His  father  had  given  him, 
Rebellion  of    in  1254,  agreat  territory  in   Wales,  between 
Dee  and  Conway,  and  into  it  he  had  tried, 
with  signal  ill   success,  to   introduce  English 
laws.      He  probably  knew   that   one  of  his 
greatest  tasks,  when  he  came  to  the  crown, 
would  be  this.  And  he  had  not  to  wait  for  his  opportunity! 
Llewelyn,  the  prince  of  North  Wales,  had,  by  the  assist- 
ance given  to  Simon  de  Montfort,  earned  as  his  reward 
a  recognition  of  his  independence,  subject  only  to  the 
ancient  feudal  obligations.  All  the  advantages  won  during 
the  early  years  of  Henry  HI.  had  been  thus  surrendered"! 
When  the    tide  turned   Llewelyn  had  done  homage  to 
Henry  ;  but  when  he  was  invited,  in  1273,  to  perform  the 
usual  service  to  the  new  king,  he  refused  ;  and  again,  in 
1274  and  1275,  he  evaded  the  royal  summons.     In  1276, 
under  the  joint  pressure  of  excommunication  and  a  great 
army  which  Edward  brought  against  him,  he  made  a 


A.D.   1277-82. 


Edward  I. 


20( 


Llewelyn, 
Prince  of 
North 
^Vales,  and 
his  brother 
David. 


1' 


formal  submission  ;  performed  the  homage,  and  received, 
as  a  pledge  of  amity,  the  hand  of  Eleanor  de  Montfort 
in  marriage.     But  Eleanor,  although  she  was  Edward's 
cousin,  was  Earl  Simon's  daughter,  and  scarcely  qualified 
to  be  a  peacemaker.      Another  adviser  of  rebellion  was 
found    in   Llewelyn's   brother   David,  who  had  hitherto 
taken  part  with  the  English,  and  had  received  special 
favours  and  promotion  from   Edward  himself.     The  re- 
conciliation of  Edward  and  Llewelyn  had  put  an  end  to 
his  hopes  of  supplanting  his  brother,  and  he   had  drawn 
closer  to  him,  in  order  to  entangle  him  in  a  rebellion  for 
which  he  was  always  ready.      The  peace  made  in  1277 
lasted    about   four   years.       In  1282  the  brothers   rose, 
seized  the  border  castles  of  Hawarden,  Flint,  and  Rhudd- 
lan,  and  captured  the  Justiciar  of  Wales,  Roger  Clifford. 
Edward  saw  then  that  his  time  was  come.     He  marched 
into  North  Wales,  carrying  with  him  the  courts  of  law  and 
the  exchequer,  and  transferring  the  seat  of  government 
for  the  time  to  Shrewsbury.    He  left  nothing  undone  that 
might  give  the  expedition   the  character  of  a  national 
effort.     He  collected  forces  on  all  sides  ;  he  assembled 
the  estates  of  the  realm,  clergy,  lords,  and  commons,  and 
prevailed  on  them  to  furnish  liberal  supplies  ;  he  obtained 
sentence   of  excommunication  from  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury.   The  Welsh  made  a  brave  defence,  and,  had 
it  not  been  for  the  almost  accidental  capture  and  murder 
of  Llewelyn  in   December,  England    might  have  found 
the  task  too  hard  for  her.     The  death  of  Llewelyn,  how- 
ever, and  the  capture  of  David  in  the  following  June, 
deprived  the  Welsh  of  their  leaders,  and  they  submitted. 
Edward  began   forthwith   his  work  of  consolidation. 
David,   as   a  traitor  to   his   feudal   lord,  a  conspirator 
against  his  benefactor,  a  blasphemer  of  God,     Conquest  of 
and  a  murderer,  was  tried  by  the  king's  judges     "^^  ales, 
at  Shrewsbury  and  sentenced  to  a  terrible  death,  the  details 
M.  H.  p 


10 


The  Early  Plajitagaicts. 


A.D.    1284. 

of  which  were  apportioned  according  to  the  articles  of  the 
accusation.  Justicesatisfied,Edward  devoted  himself  tothe 
securing  of  his  conquest;  in  1284  he  pubhshed  at  Rhudd- 

Waief"*^       ^^".  ^  ^^^^"^^'  ^^"<^d  the  Statute  of  Wales, 
which  was  intended  to  introduce  the  laws  -and 
customs  of  England,  and  to  reform  the  administration  of 
that  country  altogether  on  the  English  system.    The  pro- 
cess was  a  slow  one ;  the   Welsh  retained  their  ancient 
common  law  and  their  national  spirit;  the  administrative 
powers  were  weak  and  not  far-reaching;  the  swav  of  the 
lords  Marchers  was  suffered  to  continue  ;   and,  although 
assimilated,  Wales  was  not  incorporated  with   Encrlan'd 
It  was  not  until  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  that  the  p'rinci- 
pahty  was  represented  in  the  English  Parliament,  and 
the  sovereignty,  which  from  1300  onwards  was  generally 
although  not  invariably  bestowed  on  the  king's  eldest 
son,  conferred  under  the  most  favourable  circumstances 
little  more  than  a  high-sounding  title  and  some  sli-ht 
and  ideal  claim  to  the  affection  of  a  portion  of  the  Welsh 
people.     The   task,  however,  which  the  energies  of  his 
predecessors  had  failed  to  accomplish  was  achieved  by 
Edward.     All  Britain  south  of  the  Tweed  recognised  his 
direct   and  supreme   authority,   and   the   power    of  the 
Welsh  nationality  was  so  far  broken  that  it  could  never 
more  thwart  the  determined  and  united  action  of  En-- 
land.  ^ 

During  the  first  ten  years  of  the  reign  the  Welsh  war 
and  rumours  of  war  were  the  chief  matters  that  distracted 

a  fau-f  ""^  "^^^^^^^^  ^^^"^  ^'^^  scarcely  less  congenial  work  of 
a  awgiver.  ig^glation  and  political  organisat^ion.  The  age 
was  one  of  great  lawgivers.  Frederick  II.  had  set  the 
example  in  Naples,  and  his  minister  Peter  de  Vineis  had 
codified  there  the  laws  and  constitutions  of  the  Norman 
kings  of  Sicily.  Lewis  IX.  had  in  his  '  Etablissements  ' 
created  a  body  of  law  for  France  ;  and  Alfonso  the  Wise 


A.D.    1276-84. 


Edivard  L 


211 


in  the  *  Siete  Partidas,'  or  seven  divisions  of  a  system  of 
universal  law,  had  tried  to  do  the  same  for  Spain.  Law 
had  become  a  chief  subject  of  study  in  the  universities, 
and  Englishmen,  especially  clerg>^men,  had  been  used  for 
a  century  to  go  to  Bologna  to  read  the  canon  and  civil 
law  under  the  great  professors  there.  In  England  the 
expansion  of  judicial  machinery  and  judicial  business, 
which  followed  the  reforms  of  Henry  II.,  had  worked, 
out  of  old  and  new  materials,  a  body  of  customs  which 
became  known  as  the  common  law  ;  and  one  great  sum- 
mary of  the  hitherto  unwritten  law  of  England  had  been 
published  towards  the  end  of  the  last  reign  by  Henry 
Bracton,  one  of  the  judges  of  the  king's  court.  Men's 
minds  had  been  invited  by  these  and  the  like  influences 
to  this  study.  The  nation,  awaking  to  political  work, 
began  to  see  the  necessity  of  changing  or  amending  the 
existing  system  of  law. 

In   undertaking   the  work  of  a  lawgiver  Edward  I. 
was  simply  approaching  one  part  of  his  duty  as  a  king ; 
but  his  own  mind  had,  as  has  been  said,  a     Probable 
legal  bent ;  his  chief  minister  Robert  Burnell    p'^n/orthe 

°  codincation 

was  a  great  lawyer ;  in  his  journey  through  of  the  law. 
Italy  he  had  engaged  the  services  of  Francesco  Accursi, 
an  eminent  jurist  of  Bologna,  whose  father  had  written  a 
body  of  explanatory  glosses  on  the  Roman  law.  It  is 
probable  that  the  king  had  set  before  himself  the  codifica- 
tion of  the  law  as  one  great  object.  The  work  of  Britton, 
another  eminent  judge  of  his  time,  which  is  written  in 
French,  and  contains  much  that  is  not  in  Bracton,  was 
published  in  Edward's  name  ;  and  some  of  his  longer  Acts 
of  Parliament  contain  provisions  so  varied  and  full  as 
almost  to  constitute  codes  in  special  departments  of  law. 
But  the  English  nation  seems  to  have  had  a  dread  of  too 
elaborate  systems,  and  the  whole  of  the  national  law  has 

p  2 


212 


The  Early  Plantagcncts. 


CH.  X. 


CH.  X. 


Edivard  I, 


213 


Edward's 
legislation. 


never  yet  been  under  supreme  authority  embodied  in  a 
single  compilation. 

The  legislation  of  Edward  I.  must  be  sought  in  the 
statute  books.  It  may  be  generally  described  as  an 
Princi  lesof  ^^^cmpt  to  dcvclop  and  apply  the  principles 
which  had  been  conceded  in  Magna  Carta, 
and  to  adapt  them  to  the  changed  circum- 
stances of  his  time.  That  document  had  now  become, 
what  the  laws  of  Edward  the  Confessor  had  been  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  I.,  and  the  laws  of  Henry  I.  under  John, 
the  watchword  of  the  party  which  was  bent  on  preventing 
any  increase  or  abuse  of  royal  power. 

Edward  himself,  who  took  for  his  motto  the  words 
*  Pactum  serva,'  which  may  be  seen  upon  his  tomb,  not 
Edward  and  unnaturally  regarded  the  demands  which  were 
the  Great  made  for  the  re-issue  of  the  Great  Charter  as 
a  slur  upon  his  good  faith.  Only  once  during 
the  first  half  of  his  reign  did  he  undertake  to  re-confirm 
it;  and  when  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  in  1279  ob- 
tained the  enactment  of  a  canon  by  which  copies  of  the 
charter  were  to  be  affixed  to  the  doors  of  the  churches, 
the  king  interfered  to  forbid  it.  It  is  not  too  much,  per- 
haps, to  say  that  it  was  the  legal  rather  than  the  consti- 
tutional articles  of  the  Great  Charter  that  he  took  the  most 
pains  to  develop.  The  influence  of  the  great  lords  is 
conspicuous  in  some  of  the  provisions  of  his  statutes 
which  tend  to  restrict  the  liberty  of  alienating  lands 
Jealousy  of  ecclesiastical  aggrandisement  appears  in 
others  which  forbid  the  acquisition  of  new  estates  by 
the  clergy.  It  cannot  be  supposed  likely  that  a  king  like 
Edward  would  miss  his  opportunity  of  strengthening  the 
hold  which  he  had  on  both  barons  and  prelates.  The 
idea  of  constitutional  liberty  had  now  grown  so  powerful 
that  he  knew  that  he  could  no  longer  make  laws,  or  raise 
taxes,  or  even  go  to  war  without  their  consent.     In  those 


t 


^^ 


i 


respects  he  could  not  coerce  them.  But  the  legal  rights 
which  the  crown  had  over  its  own  vassals  were  a  dif- 
ferent matter.  It  was  quite  practicable  for  y&\xA2\ 
him  to  exact  the  full  payment  of  feudal  ser-  powers  of 
vices,  to  prevent  the  impoverishment  of  the 
crown  by  the  transference  of  estates  which  paid  a  large 
revenue  to  the  king  on  the  occasion  of  successions  or 
marriages  or  wardships,  into  the  hands  of  religious  corpo- 
rations which  neither  died  nor  married  nor  required 
tutelage.  It  was  equally  practicable  to  prevent  the  owners 
of  great  estates  from  cutting  up  their  property,  by  what  was 
called  subinfeudation,  into  smaller  holdings,  which  would 
not,  any  more  than  the  church  lands,  render  to  the  king 
the  feudal  services  that  he  required.  Two  of  Edward's 
most  famous  statutes — the  statute  '  De  Religiosis,'  in  1279, 
and  the  statute  '  Quia  Emptores,'  in  1290,  were  intended 
to  secure  these  two  points. 

Again,  all  measures  for  the  due  interpretation  and  ex- 
ecution of  the  law  protected  the  people  at  large  against 
the  usurpations  of  their  strong  neighbours.  It  powerof 
is  not  to  be  forgotten  that  although  in  England  the  feudal 
the  feudal  landlords  had,  more  than  a  century 
before,  been  deprived  of  their  power  to  usurp  jurisdiction 
over  their  vassals,  and  obliged  to  admit  the  king's  judges, 
still  a  great  part  of  Europe  was  governed  under  the  old 
plan.  We  have  seen  how,  during  the  barons'  war,  the 
party  opposed  to  the  king  was  divided  between  those  who 
really  desired  the  freedom  of  the  people,  and  those  who 
wished  to  restrict  the  king's  power  in  order  to  increase 
their  own.  In  some  important  matters  of  judicial  proceed- 
ing the  interests  of  the  crown  and  of  the  people  at  large 
were  still  united  in  opposition  to  the  claims  of  the  great 
landowners.  Hence  the  importance  of  regulating  and 
improving  the  courts  of  provincial  judicature,  the  limita- 
tion of  the  functions  of  the  sheriffs,  which  fell  constantly 


(i. 


214 


The  Early  Plantagcnets, 


CH.  X. 


Courts  of 

Exchequer, 

King's 

Bench,  and 

Common 

Pleas. 


into  the  hands  of  local  magnates ;  the  organisation  of  the 
sessions  of  the  king's  judges,  and  the  opening  of  ways  by 
which  suits,  which  could  not  be  fairly  or  justly  settled  in 
the  country,  might  be  heard  in  the  king's  courts  at  West- 
minster,    It  is  to  the  early  years  of  Edward  I.  that  we 
owe  the  final  division  of  the  three  great  royal  tribunals; 
the  Court  of  Exchequer,  in  which  were  heard 
all  causes  that  touched  the  revenue ;  that  of 
King's  Bench,  which  determined  suits  in  which 
the  king  was  concerned,  criminal  questions  on 
the  matters,  which  under  the  name  of '  pleas  of 
the  crown '  were  reserved  for  his  particular  treatment;  and 
that  of  Common  Pleas,  which  heard  suits  between  pri- 
vate individuals.     Now  these  matters  were  apportioned 
to  three  distinct  staffs  of  judges,  instead  of  being  heard 
indiscriminately  by  the  whole  or  part  of  the  judicial  body. 
The  circuits  of  judges  of  assize  were  defined  during  the 
same  period  of  the  reign.     Many  other  measures  for  the 
protection  of  life  and  property  helped  to  increase  the  feel- 
ing of  security  in  the  body  of  the  people,  to  further  the 
growth  of  loyalty,  and  at  the  same  time  to  increase  the 
royal  income. 

A  third  principle  of  Edward's  legislation  may  be  dis- 
covered in  the  careful  reform  and  expansion  of  some  of 
Statute  of  the  most  ancient  institutions,  which  he  knew 
Winchester.  ^^^  -j^  former  reigns  assisted  greatly  in  the 
defence  of  the  crown  and  in  the  maintenance  of  peace 
and  order.  In  the  Statute  of  Winchester,  in  1285,  he 
placed  the  ancient  militia  system,  which  Henr>'  II.  had 
remodelled  by  the  Assize  of  Arms,  upon  a  better  footing, 
and  re-organised  the  '  watch  and  ward,'  by  which  the 
particular  districts  and  communities  were  trained  to  keep 
order  and  to  search  for  and  arrest  criminals.  Similar 
methods  were  followed  in  the  preparations  for  national 
defence  in  1294,  and  both  by  sea  and  land  the  old  duty  of 


CH,  X. 


Edward  L 


215 


■^ 


" 


guarding  the  country  was  based  upon  the  same  primitive 
system.  In  all  these  particular  points  we  may  trace  a 
purpose  of  developing  the  policy  by  which  Henry  II.  had 
tried  to  overthrow  the  influence  of  feudalism,  and  to 
strengthen  his  administration  by  alliance  with  the  great 
body  of  the  free  people;  by  placing  arms  in  their  hands, 
providing  them  with  just  and  accessible  tribunals,  and 
by  diminishing,  as  far  as  could  be  done,  the  means  which 
the  landlord  had  of  oppressing  those  who  held  their  land 
under  him.  We  shall  see  by  and  by  how  the  same  prin- 
ciples affected  his  plans,  or  the  plans  which  circum- 
stances forced  upon  him,  for  the  development  of  the 
Parliament  and  constitution.  But  before  doing  this  we 
must  look  at  the  question  of  finance,  which,  with  those 
of  war  and  legislation,  gave  him,  from  the  very  begin- 
ning of  the  reign,  a  great  deal  of  hard  work.  This  has 
been  already  sketched  in  connexion  with  the  work  of 
Henry  II.     It  must  now  be  viewed  in  fuller  detail. 

The  sources  of  royal  revenue  were  various  rather  than 
abundant.  There  were,  first  of  all,  the  estates  of  the 
crown,  crown  lands  strictly  so  called,  which 
the  king  as  king  possessed  and  managed  like  the  royal 
any  other  landlord,  out  of  which  he  provided  '■^^'^""^• 
for  his  family  and  friends,  and  which,  in  spite  of  the 
national  jealousy  of  favourites,  were  always  more  liable  to 
be  diminished  than  to  be  increased.  Of  the  same  class, 
though  with  some  important  differences,  were  the  estates 
which  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  sovereign  on  the  extinc- 
tion of  great  families  or  the  forfeiture  of  their  owners ; 
so  the  earldom  of  Chester  had  come  into  the  hands  of 
Henry  III.  on  the  death  of  the  last  earl,  and  the  estates  of 
the  Montforts  after  the  battle  of  Evesham.  These  estates 
— escheats,  as  they  were  called — seldom  remained  long  in 
the  king's  hands  ;  the  magnates  did  not  like  to  see  the 
inheritances  of  their  fellows  one  by  one  absorbed  in  the 


/ 


2i6  The  Early  Platitage7iets.  ch.  x. 

royal  domain,  and  it  was  necessary  from  time  to  time 
to  provide  for  new  rising  men  and  for  younger  sons  of 
the  king.     The  possession  of  crown  estates  is,' of  course, 
common  to  all  ages  and  forms  of  royalty.     But  a  some- 
what intricate  system  pervades  the  English  finance  of 
the  middle  ages,  and  grows  out  of  the  growing  history  of 
the  nation  itself.     Under  the  Anglo-Saxon  kings  there 
had  been  little  call  for  taxation.     The  king  had  a  revenue 
from  the  public  lands  of  the  nation,  which  furnished  him 
with  provisions  and  money,  enough  to  supply  all  needs 
that  were  not  satisfied  from  his  royal  estates.     It  was  a 
part  of  the  sheriff's  duty  to  collect  these  contributions 
and  they  were  later  on  fixed  at  a  regular  sum  to  be  paid 
by    the    sheriff,  and    exacted    by  him    from    the   county 
he  ruled.     All  local   administration  was  maintained  by 
popular  action,  the  landowners  being  liable  for  the  three 
great   tasks  called  'trinoda   necessitas,'  the  building  of 
bridges  and  fortresses,  and  the  service  in  arms  for^'na- 
tional  defence  ;  and  thus  the  king  had  little  expense  if 
he  had  little  revenue.     In  the  great  emergencies,  how- 
ever, of  the  Danish  wars,  a  tax  of  two  shillings  on   the 
hide  of  land,  the  famous  Danegeld,  was  established  and 
became  perpetual. 

These  three,  the  royal  lands,  the  contributions  of  the 
shires,  and  the  Danegeld,  were  the  sources  of  revenue 
S?  uer'  ^^  ^^^^^  William  the  Conqueror  found  when  he 
""  ^'^""-  had  secured  his   hold   on   England.     Under 

him,  or  under  the  ministers  of  William  Rufus,  were 
mtroduced  a  number  of  new  expedients  for  raising 
money,  expedients  which  were  made  easv  by  the  new 
doctrine  of  land  tenure  that  had  been  brought  in  at  the 
Conquest.  The  Norman  kings  did  not  commute  the 
old  for  the  new  methods,  but  simply  added  the  feudal 
burdens  to  the  ancient  national  taxes.  The  Exchequer 
under  Henry  I.  audited  the  national,  or  rather  the  royal 


CH.   X. 


Edivard  L 


217 


accounts  ;  twice  a  year  the  sheriffs  paid  the  'ferm'— that 
is,  the  composition  or  rent  for  the  ancient  dues  of  their 
counties — the  Danegeld,  and  the  fines  arising  from  the 
local  courts  of  law  ;  but  at  the  same  times  were  paid  the 
feudal  incidents,  the  reliefs,  the  sums  which  the  son 
paid  to  secure  the  inheritance  of  his  father,  the  profits 
of  marriages,  of  wardships,  and  the  aids  which  the 
king  as  feudal  lord  of  the  whole  land  claimed  as  a  right 
from  his  vassals.  Henry  I.  had,  in  the  beginning  of  his 
reign,  promised  to  make  these  demands  definite  and 
reasonable,  and  he  had  done  so;  but  they  were  heavy 
notwithstanding.  Still  nothing  beyond  these  could,  even 
on  the  feudal  theory,  be  taken  from  the  subject  without 
the  consent  of  the  national  council.  When  the  king's 
necessities  were  too  great  to  be  met  by  the  ordinary 
means,  the  barons  and  bishops  in  council  were  asked  for 
a  grant;  and  the  inferior  classes  received  in  the  county 
courts  an  intimation  of  what  they  were  expected  to  con- 
tribute. It  is  true  that  there  was  little  liberty  of  refusing 
or  chance  of  evading,  payment,  but  a  certain  form  of 
consent  on  the  part  of  the  taxpayer  was  thus  main- 
tained. 

After  the  time  of  Henry  I.  important  changes  had 
taken  place  in  the  matter  of  taxation,  many  of  which 
have  been  noticed  in  our  former  pages.  Henry 

,  r  -111  /-     Changes  m 

II.,  as  we  saw,  introduced  the  payment  of  the  modes 
scutage,  by  which  the  landowners  contributed  "f  1^^^'°"- 
money  instead  of  serving  personally  in  arms.  He  like- 
wise got  rid  of  Danegeld,  and  consulted  the  towns  and 
shires  on  the  amount  of  grants  required,  by  means  of  his 
itinerant  judges.  Until  now  all  taxation  had  been  de- 
frayed by  the  land,  except  in  the  boroughs,  where  the 
contribution  required  was  often  raised  by  a  poll-tax,  an 
equal  sum  per  head  imposed  on  every  inhabitant.  To- 
wards the  end  of  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  the  custom  of 


2l8 


The  Early  Plantagencts. 


CH.  X. 


CH.  X. 


Edward  I. 


219 


taxing   moveables,  household  furniture,    and  stock  was 
introduced  ;  first,  in  order  to  raise  the  national  contribu- 
tion for  the  Crusade,  known  as  the  Saladin  tithe.    Great 
part  of  the  money  required  for  Richard's  ransom   was 
levied  in  the  sa^ne  way,  and  under  John  and  Henry  III. 
this  became  the  most  common  way  of  taxing.     A  seventh 
a  tenth,  a  fifteenth,  or  a  thirtieth  of  '  moveables  '  was  from 
time  to  time  asked  for,  and  the  more  frequent  the  need 
became  the  more  fully  was  developed  the  idea  that  the 
taxpayer  had  a  right  to  be  consulted  on   the   amount 
which  he  was  to  pay,  and  to  gain,  if  he  could,  some  ad- 
vantage in  return.    John's  frequent  demands  for  money, 
and  the  illegal  ways  in  which  he  took  it,  led  to  the  exac- 
tion of  the  famous  promise  embodied  in  the  12th  article 
of  the  Great  Charter  :  '  No  scutage  or  iid  shall  be  im- 
posed  in   our  kingdojii  unless  by  the  common  counsel 
of  our  kingdom,  except  to  ransom  our  own  person,  to 
make  our  firstborn  son    a   fcnight,  and  to  marry  once 
our  firstborn  daughter.'     The  J4th  article  describes  the 
assembly  which  is  to  be  called  when  any  such  impost 
is  required  :  '  We  will  cause  our  archbishops,  bishops, 
abbots,  earls,  and  greater  barons  to  be  summoned  seve- 
rally by  our  letters,  and  besides   we   will  cause  all  who 
hold  of  us  in  chief  to  be  summoned  by  general  summons 
by  our  sheriffs  and  bailiffs.' 

The  growth  of  the  country  in  wealth  during  the  first 
half  of  the  reign  of  Henry  III.  made  this  plan  of  raising 
The  revenue  revenue  the  most  convenient  and  the  easiest. 
FWyiii.  ^^  ^^^^^  '^'^^^  few  foreign  expeditions  there 
was  little  opportunity  of  asking  for  scutage, 
and  nearly  all  the  regular  taxation  was  raised  from  move- 
ables, or,  as  we  should  now  say,  personal  property.  On 
each  occasion  on  which  such  a  grant  was  demanded,  the 
barons  and  bishops  tried  to  obtain  some  compensation  in 
the  shape  of  a  re-issue  of  the  charters  or  an  amendment 


4 


of  the  law.  The  many  confirmations  of  the  charters 
during  that  long  reign  were,  it  may  be  said,  purchased 
from  the  crown  in  this  way.  But  Henry  could  not  obtain 
grants  sufficient  to  meet  the  requirements  of  his  greedy 
and  extravagant  court.  He  exacted,  contrary  to  the 
letter  and  spirit  of  the  charter,  large  sums  from  the 
citizens  of  London,  under  the  name  of  gifts  ;  from  the 
Jews,  whom  he  looked  upon  very  much  as  if  they  were 
part  of  the  farming  stock  of  his  realm  ;  and  from  every 
class  of  persons  whom  he  could  draw  within  the  meshes 
of  his  legal  nets,  he  exacted  money  by  fine  or  composition 
for  real  or  imaginary  offences. 

But  besides  the  land  and  the  personal  property  of  its 
inhabitants  there  was  another  source  of  income  which 
ultimately   was   to  become  most  lucrative —     t^u 

■'  1  he  cus- 

the  taxation  of  merchandise,  imported  and  toms 
exported,  and  especially  the  wool,  wool-fells,  imports  and 
and  leather,  which  were,  if  not  exactly  the  e^po"s. 
chief  produce  of  the  land,  at  least  the  most  profitable, 
the  least  easy  to  conceal,  and  the  most  easy  for  the 
king's  ministers  to  confiscate.  These  two  branches  of 
indirect  taxation,  although  distinct  in  themselves,  were 
managed  by  the  same  machinery — that  of  the  customs ; 
and  they  have  to  be  treated  together.  But  the  taxes  on 
imported  merchandise  had  their  origin  in  the  licences  to 
trade  or  to  introduce  particular  sorts  of  goods,  which  it 
was  one  of  the  ancient  rights  of  the  king  to  grant,  whilst 
the  taxes  on  exported  produce  were  primarily  a  part  of 
the  general  system  of  taxing  moveables.  Both  had  been 
long  in  requisition  ;  the  privileges  of  the  foreign  mer- 
chants had  been  a  source  of  profit  even  before  the 
Conquest;  the  wool  of  the  Cistercian  monks  and  other 
great  sheep-farmers  had  been  demanded  for  Richard's 
ransom,  and  both  classes  had  suffered  under  John  and 
Henry   III.      Magna  Carta  had  contained,    in  its  41st 


220 


The  Early  Planiagoicts. 


CH.  X. 


CH.  X. 


Edivard  I. 


221 


article,  a  distinct  provision  in  favour  of  free  trade,  which 
would  have  obviated  the  evils  of  mismanagement  in  this 
department,  if  it  could  have  been  carried  out.  All  mer- 
chants were  to  have  safe  ingress  and  egress  to  and  from 
England,  and  to  pay  only  the  right  and  ancient  customs. 
But  such  a  provision  did  not  forbid  separate  negotiations 
between  the  king  and  the  traders,  by  which  both  made  a 
profit  to  be  wrung  from  the  consumers.  One  part  of 
Edward's  financial  policy  was  to  bring  the  customs  into 
order  and  make  them  permanently  and  regularly  profit- 
able, and  this  he  undertook  in  his  first  parliament. 

He  had  come  home,  deep  in  debt,  to  an  inheritance 
heavily  encumbered  by  his  father's  debts.  He  had  ob- 
Pariiamen-  Gained  from  the  Pope,  whom  he  visited  at 
tary  settle-      Orvicto  on  his   way,    permission  to  exact    a 

ment  of  i         r     i         •  r     i  , 

revenue  on  tenth  ot  the  mcome  of  the  clergy  for  three 
Edward  I.  sQ^xs.  But  this  would  not  be  sufficient.  He 
took  counsel,  therefore,  with  the  Italian  bankers,  who 
had  already  obtained  a  footing  in  England,  and  devised 
the  plan  of  obtaining  from  his  assembled  estates  a  per- 
manent revenue  from  wool ;  half  a  mark— that  is,  six 
shillings  and  eightpence— on  each  sack  of  wool  exported. 
This  is  the  legal  foundation  of  the  English  customs.  It 
was  formally  granted  in  the  parliament  which  met  soon 
after  Easter  1275,  and  with  a  grant  of  a  fifteenth  of 
moveables,  and  the  tax  already  imposed  on  the  clergy, 
provided  him  with  a  revenue  which  carried  on  the 
government  for  some  years.  Nor  did  it  require  material 
increase  until  Edward,  in  1292  and  1 293,  became  involved 
in  a  new  series  of  wars. 

The  exigencies  of  the  Welsh  war,  the  necessity  for 
legal  changes,  and  the  orderly  arrangement  of  the  royal 
revenue,  could  not  have  failed  to  make  their  mark  on  the 
growth  of  parliament,  even  if  Edward  had  not  learned  the 
lessons  of  constitutional  lore  which  his  father's  reign  had 


-■ 


.L 


Summoning 
of  represen- 
tative as- 
semblies for 
purposes  of 
taxation. 


furnished;  and,  even  without  those  lessons,  Edward  was 
eminently  qualified  by  the  very  habit  of  his  mind  to  be  a 
constitutional  reformer.  Accordingly,  in  the  parliaments 
of  his  reign,  especially  in  those  which  were  called  at  ir- 
regular intervals  from  1275  ^o  1295,  are  found  the  clearest, 
most  distinct,  steps  of  growth,  which  led  to  the  complete 
organisation  of  the  three  estates  of  the  realm  in  one 
central  assembly.  And  here,  again,  we  must  take  a  brief 
retrospect. 

The  days  were  long  past  in  which  either  the  king,  the 
barons,  or  the  nation  at  large  were  content  to  see  the 
kingdom  managed  by  a  council  of  barons  and 
bishops,  gathered  round  a  sovereign  who  was 
of  necessity  either  strong  enough  to  coerce 
thern  or  too  weak  to  resist  them.  From  the 
very  beginning  of  the  century  the  right  of 
the  taxpayer  to  give  or  refuse  had  been  becoming  more 
clearly  recognised  ;  and  the  methods  which  under  Henry 
I.  and  Henry  II.  had  been  used  for  facilitating  the  col- 
lection of  money  provided  a  machinery  which  could  be 
used  for  still  more  important  purposes.  In  the  twelfth 
century,  when  the  king  wanted  money,  and  had  declared 
in  his  council  what  he  expected,  he  sent  down  his  justices 
or  barons  of  the  Exchequer  to  arrange  with  the  towns 
and  counties  the  sums  which  were  to  be  contributed. 
Whilst  land  only  was  taxed  all  questions  of  liability 
could  be  answered  by  reference  to  Domesday  Book;  but 
when  personal  property  was  taxed  it  was  necessary  to 
discover  how  much  each  man  possessed  before  he  could 
be  made  to  pay.  This  could  be  ascertained  only  by 
consulting  his  neighbours  ;  and,  in  order  to  do  this,  a 
system  of  assessment  was  devised  by  which  the  property" 
of  each  taxpayer  was  valued  by  a  jury  of  his  neighbours. 
The  custom  of  electing  these  assessors,  and,  further,  of 
electing  collectors  for  the  counties,  treasurers,  and  similar 


222 


TJic  Early  Plaiitage^icts. 


CH.    X. 


officers,  familiarised  the  people  with  the  idea  of  using 
representation  for  such  business.     For  legal  transactions 
.  they  already  used  representation   in  the  county  courts. 
The  grand  jury  which  presented  the  list  of  accused  per- 
sons to  the  king's  judges  on  circuit    was,  for   instance, 
an  elected  and  representative  body,  chosen  in  the  county 
court.     The  convenience  of  dealing  thus  with  the  govern- 
ment by  representative  accredited  agents  approved  itself 
to  both  king  and  nation  long  before  there  was  any  idea  of 
calling  the  representatives  to  parliament.     On  one  occa- 
sion, in  the  reign  of  John,  each  shire  had  been  ordered  to 
send  four  discreet   knights   to  speak   with    the  king  at 
Oxford;  and  that  Council  of  St.  Albans,  in  which  men- 
tion was  first  made  of  the  charter  of  Henry  I.,  contained 
representatives  from  every  township  in   the   royal    de- 
mesne.    In   1254,  when  Henry  III.  was  in   France,  the 
cjueen  regent   summoned  representative  knights  to  the 
parliament  to  make  a  grant.     In  the  parliaments  which 
were  held  in  1259  and  afterwards,  representative  knights 
brought  up  the    lists  of  grievances  under  which   their 
constituents    were    groaning;    and    in    1264   Simon   de 
Montfort  had  called  up  from  both  shires  and  boroughs 
representatives  to  aid  him  in  the  new  work  of  govern- 
ment.    That  part  of  Earl   Simon's  work  had  not  been 
lasting.     The  task  was  left  for  Edward  I.,  to  be  advanced 
by  gradual,  safe  steps,  but  to  be  thoroughly  completed, 
as  a  part  of  a  definite  and  orderly  arrangement,  according 
to  which  the  English  Parliament  was  to  be   the  perfect 
representation  of  the  Three  Estates  of  the   Realm,  as- 
sembled for  purposes  of  taxation,  legislation,  and  united 
political  action.     Under  this  system  the  several  commu- 
nities were  no  longer  to  be  asked  to  give  their  money  or 
to  accept  the  laws,  by  commissions  of  judges  whom  they 
could  neither  resist  nor  refuse,  but  were  to  send  their 
deputies  with  full  powers  to  act  for  them,  to  join  with  the 


CH.   X. 


Edwa7'd  I. 


223 


lords  and  the  judges  and  the  king  himself  in  deliberation 
on  all  the  matters  on  which  counsel  and  consent  were 
needed.  The  steps  of  the  change  may  be  traced  very 
briefly. 

Edward's  first  parliament,  in   1275,  enabled  him  to 
pass  a  great  statute  of  legal  reform,  called  the  Statute  of 
Westminster  the  First,  and  to  exact  the  new 
custom  on  wool;  another  assem.bly,  the  same     mtrn'rof 
year,  granted  him  a  fifteenth.    Both  these  are     Edward  i. 
said  to  represent    the  '  communaulte,'  or    community  of 
the  land ;  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  commons  of 
either  town  or  county  were  represented.     They  were,  in^ 
fact,  consulted  as  to  taxation  by  special  commissions,  as 
had  been  done  before.    In  1282,  when  the  expenses  of  the 
Welsh  war  were  becoming  heavy,  Edward  again  tried  the 
plan  of  obtaining  money  from  the  towns  and  counties  by 
separate  negotiation ;   but  as  that  did    not  provide  him 
with  funds  sufficient  for  his  purpose,  he  called  together 
early  in    1283,  two  great   assemblies,  one  at  York  and 
another  at  Northampton,  in  which  four  knights  from  each  I 
shire  and  four  members  from  each  city  and  borough  were 
ordered  to  attend  ;  the  cathedral  and  conventual  clergy 
also  of  the  two  provinces  being  represented  at  the  same 
places  by  their  elected   proctors.     At   these   assemblies 
there  was  no  attendance  of  the  barons  ;  they  were  with 
the  king  in  Whales  ;  but  the  commons  made  a  grant  of 
one  thirtieth  on  the  understanding  that  the  lords  should 
do  the  same.     Another  assembly  was  held  at  Shrewsbury 
the  same   year,   1283,  to   witness   the  trial  of  David  of 
Wales ;  to  this  the  bishops  and  clergy  were  not  called 
but  twenty  towns  and  all   the  counties  were  ordered  to 
send  representatives.     Another  step  was  taken  in  1290:- 
knights  of   the  shire  were  again  summoned  ;    but  still 
much  remained  to  be  done  before  a  perfect  parliament^ 
was   constituted.      Counsel  was  wanted  for  legislation 


224 


The  Early  Plantagcncts. 


CH.   X. 


I 


consent  was  wanted  for  taxation.     The  lords  were  sum- 
moned in  May,  and  did  their   work  in   June   and  July, 
granting  a  feudal  aid   and   passing  the   statute   '  Quia 
Emptores,'   but   the   knights  only  came   to   vote   or    to 
'  promise  a  tax,  after  the  law  had  been  passed  ;  and  the 
towns  were  again   taxed  by   special  commissions.     In 
1294— for  we  must  anticipate  the  thread  of  the  general 
history— under  the  alarm  of  war  with   France,  an  alarm 
which  led  Edward  into  several  breaches  of  constitutional 
law,  he  went  still  further,  assembling  the  clergy  by  their 
representatives  in  August,  and  the  shires  by  their  repre- 
sentative   knights   in   October.      The   next    year,    1295, 
witnessed  the  first  summons  of  a  perfect  and  model  par- 
liament ;  the  clergy  represented  by  their  bishops,  deans, 
archdeacons,  and  elected  proctors  ;  the  barons  summoned 
1^      severally  in  person  by  the  king's  special  writ,  and  the 
commons  summoned  by  writs  addressed  to  the  sheriffs, 
directing  them  to  send  up  two  elected  knights  from  each 
shire,  two  elected  citizens  from  each  city,  and  two  elected 
burghers  from  each   borough.     The  writ  by  which    the 
prelates  were  called  to  this  parliament  contained  a  famous 
sentence  taken  from  the  Roman  law, '  That  which  touches 
all  should  be  approved  by  all,'  a  maxim  which  might 
serv^e   as  a  motto  for  Edward's  constitutional  scheme, 
however  slowly  it  grew  upon  him,  now  permanently  and 
consistently  completed. 

The  House  of  Commons  was  not  the  only  part  of  the 
parliamentary  system  that  benefited  by  his  genius  for 
organisation.     The  House  of  Lords  became 

House  of  J  ^1  .      ^  l^^-^-a^ll^,, 

Lords.  under  the  same  mfluence  and  about  the  same 

time,  a  more  definitely  constructed  body  than 
it  had  been  before.  Up  to  this  reign  the  numbers  of 
barons  specially  summoned  had  greatly  varied.  When 
they  were  assembled  for  military  service  they  had  been 
summoned  by  special  writ,  whilst  the  forces  of  the  shires 


CH.  X. 


Edwa7'd  I. 


225 

were  summoned  by  a  general  order  to  the  sheriff     Al- 
though a  much  smaller  number  were  requisite  for  pur- 
poses of  counsel  than  for  armed  service,  the  two  functions 
of  the  king's  mimediate  vassals  were  intimately  connected, 
and  for  a  long  period  every  baron  or  landowner  who  was 
summoned  by  name  to  the  host  might  perhaps  claim  to  be 
summoned  by  name  to  the  parliament.     ]3ut  such  a  sum- 
mons was  a  burden  rather  than  a  privilege.     The  poorer 
lords,  the  smaller  landowners,  would  be  glad  to  escape 
It,  and  to  throw  in  their  lot  with  the  commons,  who  were 
represented  by  elected  knights  ;  nor  were  the  kings  very 
anxious  to  entertain  so  large  and  disorderly  a  company 
of  counsellors.     The  custom  of  calling  to  parliament  a 
much  smaller  number  of  these  tenants-in-chief  than  were 
cal^d  to  the  host  must  have  grown  up  during  the  rei-n 
of  Henry  HI.,  as  the  idea  of  representation  grew.     From 
the  reign  of  Edward  I.  it  became  the  rule  to  call  only  a 
definite  number  of  hereditary  peers  ;  and,  although  that 
rule  was    not    based    upon  any   legal  enactment  or  any 
recorded   resolution   of  government,   it   quickly   gained 
acceptance  as  the  constitutional  rule:  the  king  could  in- 
crease the  number  of  lords  by  new  writs  of  summons, 
and  the  special  writ  conferred  hereditarv  peerage      This 
hmited  body  was  the  House  of  Lords,  and  the  dignity  of 
the  peerage  descended  from  father  to  son,  no  longer  tied 
to  the  possession  of  a  particular  estate  or  quantity  of 
land  held  of  the  king.  ^ 

With  the  representatives  of  the  commons  and  the 
estate  of  the  lords  Edward  associated  a  representative 
assembly  of  clergy  ;  delegates  were  to  be  sent  p 
from  each  diocese  to  each  parliament  to  assist  tSoTthe 
m  the  national  work  and  to  tax  the  ecclesi-  '''^'"^■• 
astical  property.  And  the  form  invented  bv  Edward  in 
1294  still  subsists,  although  for  many  centuries  no  such 
representatives  have  been  chosen  or  sat  in  parliament. 
M.  H.  Q 


226 


The  Early  Plantagatets. 


CH.   X. 


^ 


In  tnith  the  clergy  were  averse  to  obeying  the  mandate 
for  their  appearance  in  a  secular  parliament,  and  pre- 
ferred to  vote  the  money,  which  it  would  have  been  very 
difficult  for  them  to  refuse,  in  the  two  provincial  convoca- 
tions of  York  and  Canterbury,  which  likewise  contained 
their  chosen  representatives,  assembled  as  a  spiritual 
council.  These  were  called  together  by  the  writs  of  the 
two  archbishops ;  they  could,  through  the  bishops,  act  in 
concert  with  the  parliament,  and  were  not  unfrequently, 
in  modern  times  invariably,  called  together  within  a  few 
days  of  the  meeting  of  parliament. 

The  latter  half  of  Edward's  reign  witnessed  most  of 
the  critical  occasions  which  opened  the  way  for  these 
National  changes  or  improvements  in  the  constitutional 
Edwlrfi.  sys^e"^>  ^^^  supplied  means  for  testing  their 
efficiency.  These  must  form  the  subject  of 
another  chapter.  But  we  may  pause,  before  we  proceed, 
to  mark  definitely  one  other  note  of  Edward's  policy. 
Henry  II.  had  done  his  best  to  get  rid  of  the  feudal  ele- 
ment in  judicial  matters,  and  to  create  a  national  army 
independent  of  the  influences  of  land  tenure.  He  had 
sent  his  judges  throughout  the  land  and  taken  the  judi- 
cature out  of  the  hands  of  the  feudal  lords.  He  armed 
all  freemen  under  the  assize  of  arms,  and,  by  instituting 
scutage,  raised  money  to  provide  mercenaries.  By  the 
national  militia  at  home  and  by  mercenary  forces  abroad 
he  strengthened  himself  so  as  not  to  depend  for  an  army 
on  that  feudal  rule  by  which  every  landlord  led  his  vas- 
sals to  battle.  Edward  I.,  whilst  he  still  more  perfectly 
carried  out  these  principles,  went  further  in  the  same 
direction,  in  his  constitution  of  parliament,  /the  repre- 
sentatives whom  he  called  up  from  the  shires  and  towns 
were  chosen  by  the  freemen  of  the  shires  and  towns  in 
their  ancient  courts  ;  they  were  not  the  delegates  of 
royal  tenants-in-chief,  but  of  the  whole  free  people.  Even 


A.D.    1284-9. 


Edward  I. 


227 


the  barons  who  composed  the  House  of  Lords  owed  their 
places  there  not  so  much  to  the  fact  that  they  held  great 
estates  as  the  immediate  vassals  of  the  crown,  as  to  the 
summons  by  which  they  were  selected  from  a  great  num- 
ber of  persons  so  qualified.     Even  if  this  had  not  been 
the  case,  the  institution  of  the  House  of  Commons  would 
Itself  have  marked  the  extinction  of  the  ancient  feudal 
idea  that  the  council  of  the  king  was  merely  the  assembly 
of  those  who  held  their  land  under  him.     But  it  was  so 
throughout  Edward's  policy.     In  court,  and  camp,  and 
council,  It  was  the  general  bond  of  allegiance  and  fealty, 
not  the  peculiar  tie  of  feudal  relation,  by  which  he  chose 
to  bind  his  people,  in  their  three  estates,  to  help  him  to 
govern  and  to  take  their  share  in  all  national  work.     ^ 


CHAPTER   XI. 

THE   CONFIRMATION   OF  THE   CHARTERS- 

Punishment  of  the  judges-Banishment  of  the  Jews-Scottish  suc- 
cession—The Ffench  quarrel-The  ecclesiastical  quarrel— The 
constitutional  crisis-The  confirmation  of  the  charters-Parlia- 
EdwLrd-s  S  sequel-War  of  Scottish  independatice- 

Edward  completed  his  work  in  Wales  at  th^  end  of  the 
year  1284.     The  next  year  was  spent  in  legislation,  and 
m  the  summer  of  1286  he  went  to  France.     Evils  conse- 
Edmund  of  Cornwall  acted  as  recrent  in  his     quentonthe 
absence,  and  he  stayed  away  for  three  years.     The  king.'' 
For  two  out  of  the  three  the  country  was  at  peace;  in 
1288,  however,  the  absence  of  the  king  began  to  teU,  and 
in  1289  the  need  of  money  for  home  and  foreign  purposes 
became  pressing.    The  news  that  the  Earls  of  Gloucester 
and  Hereford  were  engaged  in  all  but  open  warfare  on  the 
Welsh  marches,  and  that  the  collected  parliament  of  1289 

Q2 


228  The  Early  Plantagenets.   a.d.  1284-90. 

had  refused  to  sanction  a  new  tax  before  the  king  came 
home,  brought  Edward  back  in  the  August  of  that  year. 
He  found  that  the  pubhc  service  had  suffered  sadly  from 
the  removal  of  the  guiding  hand.    Complaints  were  pour- 
ing in  against  the  judges  of  the  Courts  of  Westminster; 
violence  and  corruption   were   charged  upon  the  chief 
administrators  of  the  law;  and  the  king's  first  work  was 
to  try  the  accused,  to  remove  and  punish  the  guilty.  The 
two  chief  justices  and  several  other  high  officers  were 
after  careful  investigation,  deprived  of  their  places.    The 
next  thing  was  if  possible  to  gain  a  stronger  hold  over 
the  uneasy  earls.    Gilbert  of  Gloucester,  whose  assistance 
had  enabled  Edward  to  overthrow  Earl  Simon  at  Eves- 
ham, and  who  had  been    the  first  to  take  the  oath  of 
fealty  at  his  accession,  had  been  throughout  his  career 
marked  by  singular  erratic  waywardness.     He  was  not 
yet  an  old  man,  and  a  project  had  been  on  foot  for  some 
time,   by  which  he  was  to  marry  'the  king's    daughter 
Johanna,  who  was  born  at  Acre  during  the  Crusade.  This 
was  now  carried  into  eff'ect,  and  thus  one  of  the  most 
dangerous  competitors  for  influence  in'  the  country  was 
bound  more  closely  than  ever  to  the  king. 

That  done  Edward  looked  round  for  means  of  raising 
money.  And  this  was  found  in  a  device  which  has  ever 
Banishment  sincc  weighed  heavily  on  his  reputation.  The 
of  the  Jews.  Jews  Were  banished  from  England,  and  in 
gratitude  for  the  relief  the  nation  undertook  to  make  a 
grant  of  money.  The  measure  was  no  doubt  generally 
acceptable  ;  it  was  backed  by  the  clergy,  by  the  strong 
influence  of  Eleanor  of  Provence,  the  king's  mother,  and 
by  his  own  bitter  prejudice.  Harsh,  however,  as  this 
measure  was,  it  was  not  a  mere  act  of  religious  persecu- 
tion. The  Jews  had,  unfortunately  for  the  nation  and 
for  themselves,  devoted  themselves  to  usurious  banking 
when   usury   was   forbidden   to   Christians.      They   had 


A.D.    1290. 


Edward  I. 


229 


thus  come  to  wear  the  appearance  of  oppressive  money- 
lenders.    They  lived,  too,  under  a  system  of  law  devised 
by  the  kings  to  keep  them  ever  at  the  royal  mercy  ;  their 
accumulated  stores  of  gold  lay  conveniently  under  the 
kmg's  hand,  and  Henry  HI.,  whenever  he  wanted  money, 
had  been  able  to  obtain  it  by  extortion  from  the  Jews' 
But,  last  and  worst,  they  had  allowed  themselves  to  be 
used  by  the  rich  as  agents  in  the  oppression  of  the  poor  • 
they  had  made  over  the  mortgages  on  small  estates  to 
the   neighbouring  great  landowners,  and  in  other  ways 
had  played  into  the  hands  of  the  nobles,  whose  protection 
was    necessary  to   their  own  safety.      They  were  hated 
by  the  poor.      Great  men,  like  Grosseteste  and  Simon  de 
Montfort,  had  longed  to  see  them  banished ;  the  accusa- 
tion of  money-clipping  and  forger>^  was  rife  against  them 
and  two  hundred  and  eighty  had  been  hanged  for  these 
offences  since  the  beginning  of  the  reign.     Edward  was 
too  bigoted  or  perhaps  too  high-minded  to  wish  to  retain 
them  as  useful  servants  when  the  nation  demanded  their 
expulsion.     They  were  banished,  and  the  price  paid  for 
the  concession  was  a  tax  of  a  fifteenth  granted  by  clergy 
and  laity  in  the  autumn  of  1290. 

Just  at  this  time  the  death  of  the  young  Queen  of 
Scots  opened  to  Edward  the  prospect  of  assening  his 
supremacy  over  the  whole  island,  a  prospect     claims  of 
which   within   a   few   years    tempted  him  to     Edward 
claim  the  actual  sovereignty  of  Scotland.    The    land  ^'°'' 
design   of    a   marriage   between   the   young  queen  and 
Edward's  eldest  surviving  son,   Edward  of  Carnarvon, 
which  had  been  already  concluded,  shows  that  the  king 
contemplated  the  union  of  the  two  kingdoms  in  the  next 
generation  ;  her  death  disappointed  that  hope,  but  there 
is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  Edward,  when  he  undertook 
to  settle  the  Scottish  succession,  had  in  his  eye  any  pro- 
ject of  conquest. 


230 


The  Early  Plaiitagcncts.        a.d.  1290. 


The  case  of  Scotland  was  very  different  from  that  of 
Wales.    The  Scottish  people  were  a  rising  not  a  declining 
The  Scottish     nation.     The    Scottish   kingdom  was    a   col- 
kin^dom.        lection  of  states  held  by  different   historical 
titles,  and  inhabited  by  races  of  different  origin,  not   a 
nationality  struggling  for  existence.     Southern  Scotland 
was  far  more  akin  to  Northern  England  than  to  Northern 
Scotland;    inhabited  by  people  of  English  blood   and 
English  institutions,  and  feudally  held,  like  great   part 
of  England,  by  Norman  barons.     The  royal  race  was  a 
Celtic  race,  but  Celtic  Scotland  gave  to  the  kings  little 
more  than  a  nominal  recognition ;   the  strength  of  the 
royal  house  was  in  the  Lowlands.     Ever  since  the  Nor- 
man Conquest  the  relations  between  Scotland  and  England 
had  been  close.     Of  the  several  provinces  over  which 
the   Scottish   king  now  ruled,  Lothian  was  a  part  of  the 
ancient  Northumbria,  which  had  been  granted,  according 
to  English  accounts,  by  either  Edgar  the  Peaceable  or  by 
Canute  to  a  Scottish  king.     South-western  Scotland,  or 
Scottish   Cumberland,  had  been   given   by    Edmund    L 
to   Malcolm.      The   whole   Scottish   race  had   acknow- 
ledged   as    their    father    and    lord    Edward,   the    West 
Saxon  king,  the  son  of  Alfred  ;  and  William  the   Con- 
queror, and   William   Rufus  after  him,  had  extorted  a 
recognition   of  the   superiority   or    overlordship   of  the 
King  of  the  English.      These    were  shadowy   claims, 
certainly  ;  but  since  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century 
there  had  been   several  instances  in  which   either   the 
King  of  Scots  or  his  son  had  received  English  estates 
and  dignities  and  done  homage  for  them.     The  earldoms 
of  Northumberland  and  Huntingdon  had  been  thus  held  by 
Henry,  son  of  David  L,  and  the  latter  by  his  son  William 
the  Lion.     Homage  had  on  several  occasions  been  ren- 
dered without  any  ver>^  distinct  understanding  whether  it 
was  for  the  English  earldoms,  for  the  Lowland  provinces, 


A.r).  1290-3. 


Edward  I. 


231 


or  for  the  whole  Scottish  kingdom,  that  the  overlordship 
of  the  English  crown  was  acknowledged.     Henry  H.  had, 
indeed,  after   the   capture   of  king  William,   compelled 
both  him  and  his  barons  to  recognise  his  superiority  in 
the  strictest  terms,  but  Richard  had  liberated  them  from 
that   special   bondage,  and  the  mutual  reservations    or 
compromises,  which  both   preceded   and   followed   that 
short  period  of  subjection,  left  the  claims  as  vague  as 
ever.    Except  during  the  same  period  the  relations  of  the 
two   kingdoms  had  been,  since  the  death  of  Stephen, 
fairly  friendly.     The  Scottish  kings  were  married  to  kins- 
women  of  the   English   kings  ;    their   political    progress 
followed  at  some  short  distance  behind,  but  in  the  foot- 
steps of  the  progress  begun   under   Henry  H.,   and  for 
nearly  a  century  there  had  been  only  short  and  languid 
intervals  of  war.     Now  and  then  the  Scots  had  pillaged 
or  intrigued,  but  the  two  crowns  were  generally  at  peace. 
Edward's  design  for  the  Scottish  marriage  would  have 
turned  the  peace  into  union ;  but  the  time  was  not  come 
for  that. 

These  facts  will  explain  the  position  taken  by  Edward 
in  1290.     He  believed  that  upon  him,  as  overlord,  de- 
volved the  right  of  determining  which  of  the     DecisL  of 
many  heirs  was  entitled  to  the   succession.     *^dwardin 

■\\r-..i  j^  1      •  .  *       favour  of 

With  great  pomp  and  circumstance  he  under-  Baiiioi. 
took  the  task ;  obtained  from  the  competitors  a  recog- 
nition of  his  character  as  arbitrator,  and,  after  careful 
examination,  decided  the  cause  in  favour  of  John  Balliol 
a  powerful  North  Country  baron  of  his  own,  in  whom 
according  to  recognised  legal  right  the  inheritance 
vested.  He  was  careful  to  obtain,  on  Balliol's  accession, 
a  distinct  homage  for  himself  and  his  heirs  for  the  whole 
kingdom  of  Scotland.  This  was  the  work  of  1291  and 
1292  ;  early  in  1293  symptoms  began  to  show  themselves 
that  the  result  would  not  be  lasting.     The  rising  troubles 


232  The  Eai^ly  PlaHtage7icts.        a. d.  1293. 

in  the  North  were  followed  by  an  alarm  on  the  side  of 
1^  ranee.  The  opportunity  given  by  these  troubles,  and  the 
means  taken  by  Edward  to  meet  them,  combined  to  pro- 
duce the  complication  of  difficulties  which  brought  about 
the  great  constitutional  crisis  of  the  reign  in  1-97  The 
several  points  must  be  taken  in  order:  the  relations  with 
France  first. 

In  France  Edward  still  possessed  Gascony  and  some 
small  adjommg  provinces,  which,  after  all  the  vicissitudes 
Relations  of  ^^  the  preceding  century,  had,  mainly  by  the 
wfth  th'e  ^^"^^f>'  ^"d  friendly  feeling  of  Lewis  IX.  and 
French  Phihp  III.,  been  preserved  to  the  descendants 

•  of  Henr>'  II.    In   1279  Eleanor  of  Castille, 

his  wife,  had  claimed  as  her  inheritance  the  little  pro- 
vince of  Ponthieu,  lying  on  the  coast  between  Flanders 
and   Normandy,  and  her  claim  had  been  recognised  by 
Phihp  III.     But  Philip  died  in  1285,  and  his  son,  Philip 
IV.,  generally  known   as   Philip   the  Fair,  was   a  true 
inheritor   of  the   guile  and  ability  of  Philip  Augustus. 
Edwards  long  visit  to  France,  from  1286  to  1-.80  had 
been   spent   partly   in   arranging  for   a   continuance  'of 
friendship   with   the   king,  and   partly  in  securing  and 
reforming  the  administration  of  Gascony;  but  he  must 
have  been   aware  that  the  jealousy  with  which  Philip 
viewed   him  would   sooner  or  later   take   the   form    of 
downright    hostility.      Until    1293,   however,   they  con- 
tinued  to   be   friends.      In   that  year  a  series  of  petty 
quarrels,    between    the    Norman    coast    towns   and    the 
English  sailors,  and  an  outbreak  between  the  Gascons 
and  their  neighbours,  gave  Philip  his  opportunitv.     He 
summoned  Edward  to  Paris  to  render  an  account  for 
the  misdeeds  of  the  offenders,  and  on  his  non-appearance 
condemned  him  to  forfeiture.     This  was  done  with  con- 
siderable  craft.     Edward,  who  had  lost  his  faithful  wife 
m  1290,  was  engaged  in  a  negotiation  for  marriage  with 


A.D.  1294-5. 


Edward  I. 


^11 


Margaret,  the  sister  of  Philip;  in  preparation  for  that 
marriage  a  new  enfeoffment  or  settlement  of  Gascony 
on  the  King  of  England  and  his  heirs  was  agreed  on 
As  a  step  towards  that  settlement  the  fortresses  of 
Guienne  were  for  form's  sake  placed  in  Philip's  hands 
and  as  soon  as  he  had  hold  of  them  he  declared  Edward 
a  contumacious  vassal,  for  not  having  obeved  his  sum- 
mons to  Paris.     This  was  done  in  May  1294. 

The  news  of  this  outrageous  proceeding  was  received 
m  England  with  great  indignation,  and  for  a  moment  it 
appeared  that   the  nation   was   unanimously     ^ 
determined  to  uphold  the  rights  of  the  king.     ^7^:"" 
Evjn  John   Balliol,  the   King  of  Scots,   who     TvZK^f" 
had  himself  got   into   trouble  owing  to  his     *^^''"- 
divided  duties  to  his  subjects  and  his  overlord,  and  who 
was  present  in  the  Parliament  which  Edward  called  in 
June,  offered  to  devote  the  whole  produce  of  his  English 
estates  to  maintain  the  righteous  cause.     A  great  scheme 
was  set  on  foot  for  foreign  alliances  :  the  Spaniards  were 
asked  for  substantial  assistance ;  the  princes  of  the  Low 
Countries,  the  King  of  the  Romans  too,  were  taken  into 
pay.     A  thorough  scheme  for  the  defence  of  the  coast 
and  organisation  of  the  navy  was  devised.      Edward's 
urgent  needs  or  consistent  policy  led  him  to  assemble,  as 
we  saw,  the  estates  of  the  kingdom,  in  a  way  in  which 
they  had  never  been  brought  together  before,  and  the 
parliaments  of  1294  and  1295  completed  the  formation 
of  the  constitutional  system.     But  a  rising  on  the  Welsh 
border  prevented  any  general  expedition  in  1294;  and 
the  dread  of  a  common  enemy  threw  the  Scots  in  i-oc 
into  correspondence  with  France.     Edward,  provoked  at  ' 
the  delay,  pressed  by  the  deficiency  and  waste  of  his  re- 
sources, had  recourse  to  very  exceptional  measures  for 
raising  money,  and  so  produced  a  reaction  against  the  ' 
foreign  war,  and  a  combination  of  political  forces  most 


234 


The  Early  Plantagenets.     a.d.  1296-7, 


dangerous  to  his  own  authority,  and  most  trying  to  the 
new  machinery  of  government  at  the  very  moment  of  its 
completion.  The  model  parliament  of  1295  was  followed 
by  the  crisis  of  1296,  and  the  confirmation  of  charters  of 
1297. 

So  strong  a  king,  so  determinate  a  policy,  was  sure  to 
provoke  complaints  ;  the  very  enforcement  of  order  wears 

the  appearance  of  oppression.  Both  clergy 
Edvvard^°  ^"^  l^ity  had  their  grievances,  and  Edward's 
cieil^  \^^  extremity  gave  them  their  opportunity.     The 

clergy,  with  a  certain  number  of  bishops  at 
their  head,  had  throughout  the  struggles  of  the  century 
ranged  themselves  on  the  side  of  liberty.  The  inferior 
clergy  had  always  had  much  in  common  with  the  people, 
and  John's  conduct  during  the  Interdict  had  broken  the 
alliance  which  ever  since  the  Norman  Conquest  had  sub- 
sisted between  the  great  prelates  and  the  court.  Stephen 
Langton  had  set  an  example  which  was  bravely  followed. 
Henry  III.,  by  his  love  of  foreigners,  his  obsequious  be- 
haviour to  the  popes,  and  his  unscrupulous  dealings  in 
money  matters,  alienated  the  national  Church  alq^ost  as 
widely  as  John  had  done;  while  Simon  de  Montfort  had 
conciliated  all  that  was  good  and  holy.  But  when  Henry 
III.,  with  the  abuses  which  he  had  maintained,  had  passed 
away,  and  when  Church  and  nation  alike  saw  that  Edward 
was  labouring  for  the  benefit  of  his  people  with  all  his 
heart,  matters  might  have  been  changed.  There  was 
doubtless  need  for  watchfulness  on  the  part  of  the  clergy, 
for  the  ministers  of  the  court  were  always  on  the  look- 
out for  means  to  limit  the  spiritual  power;  but  defensive 
watchfulness  is  a  different  thing  from  aggression.  Three 
successive  archbishops  had  ruled  since  Edward's  acces- 
sion, all  of  them  anxious  to  promote  the  independence  of 
the  Church  and  to  diminish  the  power  of  the  crown,  even 
if  it  were  to  be  done  by  throwing  the  Church  more  entirely 


A.D.    1297. 


Edivard  I. 


'?'»!? 
^03 


into  the  hands  of  the  Pope.    Hence  it  was  that  Archbishop 
Peckham  in  1279  had  declared  himself  the  champion  of 
the  Great  Charter,  although  the  Great  Charter  was  not 
assailed,  and  had  in  a  council  at  Reading  passed  several 
canons  which  were  intended  to  limit  the  king's  action  in 
ecclesiastical  causes.     Edward  in  return  had  taken  his 
opportunity  of  repressing  what  seemed  to  him  to  be  eccle- 
siastical innovation  ;    he   had  interfered  to  prevent  the 
publication  of  the  canons,  and  had  made  the  archbishop 
apologise  and  withdraw  them.     Not  content   with  this, 
he  took  advantage  of  the  occasion  to  pass  the  statute 
'  De  Religiosis,'  by  which  he  prevented  the  clergy  from 
acquiring  more  land  than  they  held  at  the  time,  with- 
out express  permission.     The  taxation  of  the  clergy  too 
was  heavy  ;    the  popes  were  as  willing  to   minister  to 
Edward's  needs  as  they  had  been  to  supply  his  father 
with  money  from  the  revenues  of  the  English  Church. 
More  than  once  they  had  empowered  him  to  collect  a 
three  years  tenth  of  all  the  revenue  of  the  clergy  for  the 
purpose  of  a  crusade  which  was  never  carried  out,  and  in 
1288   #ope  Nicolas   IV.  ordered  a  new  and  very  exact 
valuation  of  all  church  property.     This  valuation  included 
both  temporal  property,  that  is  land,  and  spiritual,  that 
is  tithes  and  offerings.     Such  a  permanent  record  laid 
them   open   at  any  moment  to  exaction.    But  Edward 
was  not  satisfied  to  have  to  ask  the  Pope's  leave  to  tax 
his  own  subjects,  whether  clerical  or  lay ;  he  had  begun 
to  assemble  the  clergy  in  councils  of  their  own,  for  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  money  grants,  and,  a  little  later, 
gave  them  a  representative  constitution  as  an  estate  of 
parliament.     They  were,  on  the  other  hand,  unwilling  to 
obey  the  summons  to  attend  a  secular  court,  and   to 
spend  their  money  on  secular  purposes,  much  more  so 
when  it  was  demanded  out  of  all  proportion  and  without 
reasonable  consultation.      Robert  Winchelsey,  who  be- 


236 


The  Early  Plantagencts, 


A.D.    1297. 

came  archbishop  in  1294,  was  fitted  to  be  the  leader  of 
a  strong  ecclesiastical  opposition.  He  was  a  pious, 
learned,  and  farseeing  man,  but  he  was  fully  possessed 
with  the  idea  that  the  king  was  determined  to  subject 
the  Church  to  the  State ;  and  he  knew  that  in  the  Pope, 
Boniface  VIII.,  he  had  a  friend  and  supporter  who  would 
not  desert  him.  He  was  ready  to  fight  the  battle  the 
prospect  of  which  was  ver>'  near. 

Edward  regarded  the  situation  of  affairs  in   129435 

entitling  him  to  assume  the  office  of  dictator ;  to  take  all 

advantage  the  law  offered  him  for  raising  men 

Quarrel  ,  i  .<-  i  ^ 

between         ^^1^1  moncy ;  but,  if  he  saw  means  which  the 
SeX'^gJ"'^     ^^'^  ^*^  ^^^  warrant,  to  use  them  also  as  jus- 
tified by  the  necessity  of  the  case.     So  he  not 
only   assembled    the    barons,  clergy,  and  commons,  to 
obtain  money  grants  from  them,  but    seized   the   wool 
of  the    merchants    and  took  account  of  the  treasures 
of  the  churches.      It    is   true   that   by  negotiating  with 
the  merchants  in  assemblies  of  their  own  he  obtained 
their  consent  to  pay  a  large  increase  of  custom  on  the 
wool,  and  that  he  did  not  actually  confiscate  the  church 
treasure,  still  the  measures  were  oppressive  and  alarm- 
ing; and  when  in  the  autumn  council  of  1294  he  de- 
manded   one-half  of  the    revenue    of   the    Church    the 
alarm  became  a  panic.     The  clergy  yielded,  only  to  find 
another  heavy  demand  made  on  them  the  next  year  ;  but 
the  king  was  becoming  irritated  by  delay  and  the  clergy 
emboldened  by  papal  support.  Boniface  VI 1 1.,  in  February 
1296,  issued  a  famous  Bull  called,  from  its  opening  words, 
the  Bull  Clericis  Laicos,  in  which  he  forbade  the  king  to 
take  or  the  clergy  to  pay  taxes  on  their  ecclesiastical 
revenue.     Armed  with  this  Archbishop  Winchelsey  in 
1297  declined  to  agree  to  a  money  grant,  and  the  king 
replied  by  placing  all  the  clergy,  who  would  not  submit, 
out  of  the  protection  of  the  law. 


A.D.  1297. 


Edward  I. 


^37 


Discontent 
of  the 
greater 
barons 
under  the 
growth  of 
the  royal 
power. 


But  by  this  time  the  spirit  of  the  laity  was  roused. 
Gilbert  of  Gloucester  was  dead,  and  the  heads  of  the 
baronage  were  Iloger  Bigod,  Earl  of  Norfolk, 
the  Marshal,  and   Humfrey   Bohun    Earl  of 
Hereford,  the    Constable   of   England  ;    men 
not  of  high  character  or  of  much  patriotism, 
but  of  great  power  and  spirit,  and  eager  to 
take  the  opportunity  of  asserting  their  posi- 
tion, which  the  king's  measures  for  enforcing  equal  jus- 
tice had  threatened  to  shake.      Bohun,  too,  had  been 
miprisoned  on  account  of  the  private  war  which  he  had 
carried  on  against  Gloucester  in  1288.     Edward's  legal 
reforms  had  touched  the  baronage  like  every  other  class. 
A  close   inquiry  into  the  title  by  which   they   held   their 
estates  and  local  jurisdictions— the  commission,  as  it  was 
called,  of  *  quo  warranto '—had  alarmed  them   in   1278; 
then   the   Earl   Warennc   had   boldly  averred   that   his 
warrant  was  the  sword  by  which  his  lands  had  been  won, 
and  by  which  he  was  prepared  to  defend  them.     They 
found  too  that,  although  the  new  legislation  in  some  re- 
spects gave  them  a  stronger  hold  on  their  vassals,  that 
advantage   was   counterbalanced    by  the    stronger   hold 
which  the  king  gained  by  it  over  themselves.    They  did 
not  care  to  have  too  strong  a  king,  or  one  who  ruled  them 
by  ministers  of  his  own  choosing.     When,  then,  early  in 
1297,  Edward  called  for  the  whole  military  force  of  the 
kingdom  to  go  abroad,  part  to  follow  him   to  Flanders 
to  support  his  allies,  and  part  to  go  to  Gascony,  they 
determined  to  thwart  him.     It  was  a  moot  question  how 
far  they  were  bound  to  foreign  service  at  all ;  the  king 
himself  seemed  to  be  asking  them  for  a  favour  rather 
than  a  right.     They  knew  that  the  clergy  were  hostile  on 
account  of  the  taxes,  and  the  merchants  on  account  of 
the  wool ;  they  would  make  the  king  feel  their  strength. 
Edward  himself  acted  unwisely ;  he  had  become  exas- 


2^8 


The  Early  Plantageiiets.        a.d.  1297. 


perated  with  the  delay;  he  had  lost  his  early  and  best 
counsellor,  Robert  Burnell,  and  had  taken  in  his  place 
Walter  Langton,  the  treasurer,  a  faithful  but  unpopular 
and  unscrupulous  man,  and  he  had  conceived  the  notion, 
which  was  probably  a  true  one,  that  the  barons  wished  to 
embarrass  him.  The  plea  of  necessity  by  which  he  tried 
to  justify  himself  must  also  justify  him  with  posterity. 

The  year  1297  saw  the  contest  decided.     In  February 
the  king  had  summoned  the  barons  to  meet  at  Salisbury. 
When  they  were  assembled  the  two  earls  re- 
th?barons°     fused  to  perform  their  offices  as  marshal  and 
at  Sahs-  constable ;  the  clergy  were  in  a  state  of  out- 

lawry, and  the  king  did  not  venture  to  sum- 
mon the  representatives  of  the  commons.   The  assembly 
broke  up  in  wrath.     Edward  again  laid  hands  on  the 
wool,  summoned  the  armed  force,  and  put  in  execution 
the  sentence  against  the  clergy ;  the  barons  assembled  in 
arms,  the  bishops  threatened  excommunication.     In  spite 
of  this,  the  king,  in  July,  collected  the  military  strength 
of  the  nation  at  London  and  tried  to  bring  matters  to  a 
decision.     As  the  earls  would  not  yield  he  determined  to 
submit  to  the  demands  of  the  clergy,  and  to  use  his  in- 
fluence with  the  commons  so  as  to  get,  even  informally, 
a  vote  of  more  money.     Winchelsey  saw  his  opportunity. 
If  the  king  would  confirm  the  charters,  the  Great  Charter 
and  the  charter  of  the  forests,  he  would  do  his  best  to 
obtain  money  from  the  clergy;  the   Pope  had  already 
declared   that   his   prohibition   did  not  affect  voluntary 
Reconcilia-     ^^nts  for  national  defence.     The  chief  men 
tionof  of  the  commons,  who  although  not  summoned 

Edward  and  ° 

Archbishop  as  to  parliament  were  present  m  arms,  agreed 
Winchelsey.     ^^  ^,^^^  ^  ^^^  ^^  ^  ^^^^ .  ^^^  ^^^  people  were 

moved  to  tears  by  seeing  the  public  reconciliation  of  the 
archbishop  with  the  king,  who  commended  his  son 
Edward  to  his  care  whilst  he  himself  went  to  war. 


A.D.  1297. 


Edward  I. 


239 


But  the  end  was  not  come  even  now.      The  arch- 
bishop and  the  earls  knew  how  often  the  charters  had 
been  confirmed  in  vain  in  King  Henry's  days ;     Confirma- 
and  it  was  an  evil  omen  that  the  kinjr,  whilst     ^'/'"  °^  '^« 
offering  to  confirm  them,  was  attempting  to     establishing 
exact  money  without  a  vote  of  Parliament.     Ihepe^o^pie^ 
They  drew  up  a  series  of  new  articles  to  be     »".deter- 
added  to  the  Great  Charter,  and,  after  some    ation/''^" 
difficulty,  forced  them  upon  the  king  just  as  he  was  pre-  '- 
paring  to  embark.     Edward  saw  that  he  must  yield,  but  ' 
he  left  his  son  and  his  ministers  to  finish  the  negotiation. 
As  soon  as  he  had  sailed  the  earls  went  to  the  Exchequer 
and  forbade  the  officers  of  that  court  to  collect  the  newly 
imposed  tax;  the  young  Prince  Edward   was  urged  to 
summon   the  knights  of  the  shire  to  receive  the  copies 
of  the  charter  which  his  father  had  promised,  and  on 
October  10  the  charters  were  reissued,  with  an  addition 
of  seven  articles,  by  which  the  king  renounced  the  right 
of  taxing  the  nation  without  national  consent.     It  is  true 
that  these  articles  were  not  drawn  up  with  such  exact- 
ness as  to  prevent  all  evasion,  and  Edward  I.  and  Ed- 
ward  III.  are  accused  of  using  the  obscurities  of  the 
wording  to  justify   them  in   transgressing  the  spirit  of 
the  concession.     But  the   confirmation  of  the  charters, 
however  won,  was  the  completion  of  the  work  begun  by 
Stephen    Langton  and   the  barons   at   Runnymede.      It 
established   finally   the   principle   that   for  all   taxation, 
direct  and  indirect,  the  consent  of  the  nation  must  be 
asked,  and  made  it  clear  that  all  transgressions  of  that 
principle,  whether  within  the  letter  of  the  law  or  beyond 
it,  were  evasions  of  the  spirit  of  the  constitution.     The 
seven  articles  were  these :  by  the  first  the  charters  were 
confirmed ;  by  the  second  all  proceedings  in  contraven- 
tion of  them  were  declared  null ;  by  the  third  copies  of 
them  were  to  be  sent  to  the  cathedral  churches   to  be 


240 


The  Early  Plantagcnets. 


A.D.   1297. 


read  twice  a  year;   and  by  the  fourth  the  bishops  were  to 
excommunicate  all  who  transgressed  them.      These  four 
were  the  contribution  of  the  prelates,  the  condition  under 
which  the  clergy  had  been  reconciled.  By  the  fifth  article 
the  king  declared  that  the  exactions,  by  which  the  people 
had  been  agrieved,  should   not    be   regarded  as  giving 
him  a  customary  right  to  take  such  exactions  any  more*; 
by  the  sixth  he  promised  that  he  would  no  more  take 
such  'aids,  tasks,  and  prises  but  by  common  assent  of 
the  realm';  and  by  the  seventh  he  undertook  not  to  im- 
pose on  the  wool  of  the  countr)-  any  such  '  maletote '  or 
heavy  custom    in    future  without  their  common  assent 
and  goodwill.     It  would  have  been  clearer  if  the  rights 
renounced  had  been  absolutely  renounced  and  clearly 
specified.     The  king  and  his  servants  soon  learned  that, 
without  taking  such  taxes  and  maletotes  as  had  been 
complained  of,  they  could  by  negotiating  with  the  mer- 
chants raise  money  indirectly  without  consulting  parlia- 
ment, but  that  excuse  was  never  allowed  by  the  parlia- 
ment to  be  sufficient,  and,  when  they  could,  they  closed 
ever)'  opening  for  evasion.     Thus  was  England's  greatest 
king  compelled  to  make  to  his  people  the  greatest  of 
all  constitutional  concessions,  at   the  very  moment   at 
which   by  his  new  organisation  of  Parliament  he  had 
placed  the  nation  for  the  first  time  in  a  position  in  which 
they  could  compel  him  to  fulfil  it.     It  was  to  some  extent 
a  compromise,  in  which  both  parties  felt  themselves  jus- 
tified in  putting  their  own  interpretation  on  the  terms  by 
which  they  had  been  reconciled,  but  it  is  not  the  less 
a  landmark  in  the  history  of  England,   second  only  to 
Magna  Carta.    The  co7iJirmatio  cartarum  is  the  fulfilment, 
made  now  to  the  whole  consolidated  people,  of  the  pro- 
mises made  in  the  charter  to  a  nation  just  awaking  to  its 
unity  and  to  the  sense  of  its  own  just  claims. 

Before  we  turn  again  to  the   military  work  of  the 


A.D.   1297-9. 


Edward  I. 


241 


reign,  the   war  for  the   subjection   of  Scotland,  which 
was  one  of  the  main  causes  of  Edward's  difficulties  at 
this  time,  and  which  furnished  him  with  hard    dj^^^^j. 
work  for  the  rest   of  his    life,  we  may  briefly     tion^'of  *"  ^^' 
sum  up  the  sequel  of  the  great  constitutional    ItZht 
crisis.     Not  the  least  of  the  causes  that  led  to     ^"bjects. 
Edward's  irritation,  and  provoked  him  to  impolitic  vio- 
lence, was  the  thought  that  the  nation  did  not  trust  him. 
From  the  beginning  of  the  reign  he  had  laboured  inde- 
fatigably  for  their  good  ;   he  had  amended  their  laws, 
and  had  given  them  what,  to  all  intents  and  purposes' 
was  a  new  and  free  constitution.     He  felt  that  he  had  a 
right  to  their  confidence,  and  a  right  to  direct,  if  not  also 
to  control,  the  mechanism  which  he  had  created.    But  as 
yet  it  was  only  thirty  years  since  the  Battle  of  Evesham. 
Men  were  still  alive  who  remembered  the  countless  ter- 
giversations of  Henry  III.,  and  who,  so  warned,  could 
scarcely  help  suspecting  that  Edward  in  the  hour  of  need 
would  repudiate  his  obligations,  as  his  father  had  done. 
They  did  not  profess  to  be  satisfied  with  the  act  of  con- 
firmation which  Edward  sealed  at  Ghent  on  November  5, 
1 297.     As  soon  as  he  returned  from  Flanders,  in  the  fol- 
lowing year,  the  earls  insisted  on  a  renewal  of    Re-confir- 
the  act,  and,  before  they  would  join  him  in  the     "P^^'on  of 
Scottish  war,  the  king  had  to  promise  to  grant     Charters. 
it.     In  March  1299  the  promise  was  fulfilled,  but  the  con- 
firmation was  even  now  regarded  as  incomplete.     The 
enforcement  of  the  charter  of  the  forests  involved  a  new 
survey  of  the  forests,  and  the  king,  when  he  promised 
that  this  should  be  done,  made  a  distinct  reserv^ation  of 
the  rights  of  the  crown,  and  of  some  questions  which 
had  just  been  referred  to  the  court  of  Rome.     The  re- 
servation appeared  to  the  people  to  be  an  evident  token 
of  insincerity ;  and  to  calm  the  excitement  Edward,  two 
months  afterwards,  executed  an  unconditional  confirma- 


M.H. 


R 


242 


The  Early  Plantagenets. 


A.D.    1 300- 1. 


tion.  Still,  however,  it  was  declared  that  the  forest  re- 
forms were  intentionally  delayed;  and  in  a  full  parlia- 
ment, held  at  London  in  March  1300,  the  confirmation 
was  repeated,  additional  articles  being  embodied  in  an 
important  act  called  *  The  articles  upon  the  charters.' 
In  consequence  of  these  the  sur\ey  of  the  forests  was 
made  and  the  report  of  the  survey  presented  to  a  parlia- 
ment held  at  Lincoln  in  January  1301,  at  which  all  the 
old  animosities  threatened  to  revive,  and  the  barons, 
backed  by  the  commons,  and  with  Archbishop  Win- 
chelsey  at  their  head,  subjected  the  king  to  a  pressure 
which  he  felt  most  bitterly  and  never  forgave. 

Again  he  was  in  grievous  want  of  money.  The  Pope 
had  claimed  the  overlordship  of  Scotland,  and  it  was  of 
Papal  ^^  utmost  importance  that  he  should  receive 

claims  over  a  united  and  unhesitating  answer  from  the 
assembled  nation.  In  spite  of  all  the  con- 
cessions that  Edward  had  made  so  reluctantly,  show- 
ing by  his  ver>'  reluctance  that  he  intended  to  keep 
them,  a  new  list  of  articles  was  presented  as  con- 
ditions on  which  money  would  be  granted.  Nay,  even 
if  the  king  agreed  to  the  articles,  the  Archbishop,  on 
the  part  of  the  clergy,  would  consent  to  no  grant  that 
the  Pope  had  not  sanctioned.  Again  Edward  yielded, 
although  he  refused  to  admit  the  article  in  which  the 
Pope's  consent  was  mentioned.  It  was  by  thus  yielding 
probably  that  he  obtained  from  the  whole  assembled 
baronage  a  distinct  denial  of  the  Papal  claims  over 
Scotland.  But  the  prelates  and  clergy  did  not  join  in 
the  letter  addressed  in  consequence  to  the  Pope:  and 
Quarrel  of  Edward,  putting  the  two  things  together, 
Edward         chose  to  regard  the  archbishop  as  a  traitor 

with  .\rch-        .       .  .  ^  .  ^ 

bishop  m  mtention  if  not  m  act.     The  knight   who 

^^'""'^^'^^^'-    had  presented  to  him  the  articles  at  Lincoln 
was  sent  for  a  short  time  to  prison,  as  a  concession  per- 


A.D.  1302-4. 


Edward  I, 


243 


haps   to    Walter    Langton,  whose    dismissal    had    been 
asked  for.    Winchelsey's  punishment  was  delayed  as  long 
as  Pope  Boniface  lived;  but,  when  Clement  V.  in  1305 
succeeded  him,  the  Archbishop  was  formally  accused, 
summoned  to  Rome,  and  suspended,  nor  was  he  allowed 
to  return  to  England  during  the  remainder  of  the  reign. 
This  quarrel  is  a  sad  comment  on  the  conduct  of  two 
great  men,  both  of  whom  had  at  heart  the  welfare  of 
England;    but  if  the  balance  must  be  struck  between 
them  it  inclines  in  favour  of  Edward.     He  may  have 
been  somewhat  vindictive,  but  his  adversary  had  taken 
cruel  advantage  of  his  needs,  had  credited  him  with  un- 
worthy motives,  and  with  a  guile  of  which  he  knew  him- 
self to  be  innocent ;  and  the  archbishop  had,  in  order  to 
humiliate  him,  laid  him  open  to  the  most  arrogant  as- 
sumptions on  the  part  of  the  Pope.     Winchelsev  wished 
to  be  a  second  Langton ;  Edward  was  not,  and'  was  in- 
capable of  becoming,  a  second  John. 

The  Parliament  of  Lincoln  closes  the  constitutional 
drama  of  the  reign  ;  but  two  or  three  minor  points  in 
connexion  with   what  has  gone    before    may 
be  mentioned  here.     In   1303  and  1304  Ed-     ThSign'^ 
ward  was  again   in  great   straits  for  mone\-,     '"^'■<^'^^"'=^ 
and  he  did  not  wish  to  be  again  subjected  to  the  treat- 
ment which  he  had  endured   at  Lincoln.     In  searching 
for  the  means  of  raising  a  revenue  he  recurred  to  the 
same  source  from  which  he  had  obtained  the  custom  of 
wool  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  the  assistance  of  the 
merchants.     He  called  together  the  foreign  merchants  in 
1303  and  offered  them  certain   privileges  of  trading,  on 
the  condition  that  they  should  consent  to  pay  ini^port 
duties.     They  agreed  ;   and,  although  an  as-     ^,    x, 
sembly  of  English  representatives  from  the    Custom, 
mercantile  towns  refused   to  join  in    the   arrangement, 
the    institution  held  good.      The    'New   Custom,'  the 


R  3 


244  l^f^^  Earfy  Plantagcncts,       a. d.  1305. 

origin  of  our  import  duties,  was  established  without  the 
consent  of  parliament,  although  not  in  direct  contraven- 
tion of  the  Act  of  1297,  for  it  was  a  special  agreement 
made  with  the  consent  of  the  payers  and  in  consideration 
of  immunities  received.  In  1304  he  adopted  an  expedient 
even  more  hazardous,  and  collected  a  tallage  from  the 
royal  demesne  ;  yet  even  here  he  avoided  breaking  the 
letter  of  his  promise.  Such  tallage  was  not  expressly 
renounced  in  1297,  and  it  was  now  sanctioned  by  the 
consent  of  the  baronage,  who  raised  money  from  their 
vassals  in  the  same  way.  In  1305  he  did  a  still  more 
imprudent  and  dangerous  act,  in  obtaining  from  Clement 
V.  a  formal  absolution  from  the  engagements  taken  in 
1297.  Except  in  a  slight  modification  of  the  forest  regu- 
lations, which  was  perhaps  made  rather  as  a  demonstra- 
tion of  his  power  than  as  a  real  readjustment  of  the 
law,  he  took  no  advantage  of  this  absolution.  These 
three  facts,  however,  remain  on  record  as  illustrations  of 
Edward's  chief  weakness,  the  legal  captiousness,  which 
was  the  one  drawback  on  his  greatness.  The  last  was 
too  grievously  justified  by  the  morality  of  the  time,  and 
proves  that  in  one  respect  at  least  Edward  was  not  before 
other  men  of  the  age. 

We  turn  now  to  trace  the  course  of  events  which  had 
so  powerfully  affected  the  king's  action  during  these 
Rebellion  in  Critical  years.  We  saw  him  in  1294  preparing- 
under  ^"^^  ^^  expedition  to  France,  which  was  de- 

Madoc.  layed   until   1297  by  troubles  in  Wales  and 

Scotland,  and  by  the  political  crisis  on  which  we  have 
dwelt  so  long.  The  Welsh  revolt  under  Madoc,  a  kins- 
man of  the  last  princes,  involved  an  expedition  which 
Edward  himself  in  the  winter  of  1294  led  into  Wales. 
It  was  an  unseasonable  undertaking,  and  attended  with 
no  great  success.  Madoc  was,  however,  taken  prisoner 
in  1295,  and  the  rebellion  came  to  an  end.     The  Scot- 


A.D.  1295. 


Edward  L 


245 


tish    troubles    were    more    general    and    lasted    much 
longer. 

John  Balliol  had  from  the  beginning  of  his  reign  felt 
himself  in  a  false  position,  distracted  between  his  duties 
to  Edward  as  his  suzerain  and  patron,  and  his     c 

1.-         .1-  1.  T^  .  bunimonsof 

duties  to  his  subjects.  By  a  curious  coinci-  Kdward  to 
dence  Edward  had  summoned  him  to  appear  as  ^'*""^'" 
a  vassal  in  his  court  to  answer  the  complaints  of  the  Earl 
of  Fife,  in  the  very  year  that  he  himself  was  summoned 
to  appear  at  Paris  to  answer  the  complaints  of  the  Nor- 
mans. The  neglect  and  contempt  with  which  Balliol  was 
treated  may  have  embittered  his  feelings  towards  Edward, 
yet  in  1294  he  had  been  the  foremost  of  the  barons  in 
offering  help  against  France.  But  it  is  clear  that  he  was 
not  a  man  of  strong  will  or  decided  views  ;  that  he  could 
not  easily  bring  himself  to  break  with  Edward,  and  so 
throw  himself  on  the  support  of  the  Scottish  baronage, 
and  that  even  Edward's  support  did  not  make  him 
strong  enough  to  defy  them.  He  halted  between  the  two 
and  lost  his  hold  on  both.  In  1295  the  Scottish  lords 
determined,  in  imitation  of  the  French  court,  to  institute 
a  body  of  twelve  peers  who  were  practically  to  control  the 
action  of  Balliol,  and  opened  negotiations  for  an  alliance 

with  France.     Such  an  alliance   was  then  a     »n• 
,  .         ,         .     .  Alliance  of 
new  thing,  but  in  its  consequences  it  was  one     Scotland 

of  the  most  important  influences  of  mediicval  ""'^^  ^'■^"<=^' 
history,  for  it  not  only  turned  the  progress  of  Scottish 
civilisation  and  politics  into  a  French  channel,  leading 
the  Scots  to  imitate  French  institutions,  as  they  had 
hitherto  copied  those  of  England,  but  gave  to  the  French 
a  most  effective  assistance  in  every  quarrel  with  England, 
down  to  the  seventeenth  century.  As  soon  as  Edward 
learned  that  such  a  negotiation  was  in  progress  he  de- 
manded that,  until  peace  should  be  made  between  Philip 
and  himself,  the  border  castles  of  Scotland  should  be 


246  The  Early  Plantagenets.      a.d.  1295-S. 

placed  in  his  hands.  This  was  at  once  refused,  and  war 
broke  out.  In  March  1296  Edward  took  and  sacked 
Scottish  Berwick,  and   the  Scots  threatened  CarHsle. 

The  unfortunate  Balliol  seeing  himself  at  last 
compelled  to  choose  between  the  two  evils,  renounced 
his  allegiance  to  Edward  and  almost  immediately  paid 
the  penalty  of  his  temerity.     The  Earl  VVarenne  won  a 
great  victory  at  Dunbar  in  April,  and  took  Edinburgh ; 
Surrender       BalHol  Surrendered  in  Julv,  and  was  obliged 
EdS' '"    ^^  ^^^i^"  the  crown  to  his  conqueror.     The 
Scottish  regalia  were  carried  to  England.  The 
coronation-stone,  which  tradition  identified  with  the  stone 
on  which  the  patriarch  Jacob  had  rested  his  head  at 
Bethel,  was  removed  from  Scone  to  Westminster.     The 
chief  nobles   of  Scotland   were  led   awav  as   hostacxes 
and   Scotland,   if   not  subdued,  was  so  far  cowed  TntJ 
silence  that  during  1297  Edward  thought  it  safe  to  leave 
It   under  the  government   of  the   Earl   Warenne.      Sir 
William  Wallace,  the  somewhat  obscure  and  mythical 
hero  of  Scottish  liberation,  remained,  however,  in  arms 
against   him,  and  he  in   September   defeated    the    Earl 
Warenne  at  Cambuskenneth,  and  drove  the  Encrlish  out 
of  the  country.     Edward's  expedition  to  France,"so  long 
twTen  Eng-      ^^^^>'^d'  terminated  in  March  1298  in  a  truce 
land  and         ^f  two  years,  which  was  renewed  in  1299  and 
Scotland.         turned  into  a  peace  in  1303.     As  a  pledge  of 
the  arrangement  Edward  married  Margaret,  the  sister  of 
Phihp,  in   1299.     The  Scots  thus  lost  at  first  the  active 
help  of  their  new  ally.     Immediately  on  his  return  Ed- 
ward resumed  the  attack  upon  them,  and  the  victorv  won 
at  Falkirk  in  July  1298  proved  his  continued  superiority 
while  It  served  to  stimulate  the  national  aspirations  of 
the  Scots  and,  what  was  even  more  important,  tau-ht 
them  that,  if  they  were  still  to  be  free,  they  must  learn'to 
act  as  a  united  people. 

Wallace's  victory  at  Cambuskenneth  had  earned  for 


A.D.   1 298- 1 303. 


Edivard  I. 


247 


him  the  jealousy  instead  of  the  confidence  of  the  Scottish 
nobles;  the  defeat  at  Falkirk  was  made  an     Affairs  in 
excuse  for  declining  his  leadership  and  din?-     ^^Q^land 

,  -       ,  ,  ^  *=        after  the  fall 

ing  to  the  shadowy  royalty  of  the  imprisoned    <'i  Baiiid. 
Balliol.      They   chose   a   council   of    regency  to   govern 
Scotland  in  his  name.     Three  regents  were  elected ;  the 
bishop  of  St.  Andrew's  was  one;   the  other  two   were 
John  Comyn,  lord  of  Badenoch,  and  Robert  Bruce,  Earl 
of  Carrick  ;  sons  of  two  of  the  lords  who  had  competed 
for  the  crown  when  Balliol  was  chosen.    Wallace  was 
not  even  named.    Some  small  successes  now  fell  to  the 
Scots  :  in  1299  they  compelled  the  English  garrison  in 
Stirling  Castle  to  capitulate ;  in  1300  they  foiled  the  in- 
vading army  by  avoiding  a  pitched  battle,  and,  at  the 
close  of  the   campaign,  obtained   by  the   mediation    of 
the   French   a   truce   which   lasted   till  the   summer  of 
1301.     It  was  just  then   that    Boniface    VIII.   had  laid 
claim  to  the  suzerainty  of  Scotland,  and  Edward's  time 
was  spent  during  the  truce  in  obtaining  from  his  barons 
a  unanimous  declaration  against  that  claim.     This,  as  we 
saw,  was  done  in  the  parliament  of  Lincoln.     Althoucrh 
the  papal   argument  was  one    to   which    Edward    could 
not    refuse   to   listen,    Boniface's    influence   with   Arch- 
bishop  Winchelsey  gave    him   more    trouble   than   the 
illusory  claim. 

The  Scottish  campaign  of  1301  was  a  repetition  of 
that  of  the  preceding  year  ;  Edward  spent  the  winter  in 
the  country  and  built  a  castle  at  Linlithgow;  and  another 
truce  was  made,  which  lasted  to  the  winter  of  1302. 

The  conclusion  of  peace  with  France  in  1303  left 
Edward  free  to  direct  all  his  strength  against  Scotland ; 
and  the  Scots,  under  Comvn  as  regent,  were     ^, 

...  '  07  Campaign 

now  in  better  condition  to  resist.     They  had     of  Edward 
defeated  the  English   army  under   Sir  John     '"  ^^"^'^d- 
Segrave  in   February,  and  were   preparing  for  greater 
exertions,  when  the  news  arrived  that  not  only  the  Pope 


248 


The  Early  Plajitagencts.     a.d.  1303-5. 


but  the   French  had  deserted  them.     No   provision   in 
their  favour  was  contained  in  the  treaty  of  peace  ;  and 
Edward  was  already  in  the  country  in  full  force.     The 
year  1303  appeared  to  be  a  fatal  year  to  the  hopes  of 
Scotland.     Edward   marched    the   whole    length    ci  the 
country  as  far  north  as  the  Moray  Frith,  and  within  sight 
of  Caithness.      Stirling  alone  of  all  the   castles   of  the 
land  was  left  in  the  possession  of  the  native  people,  and 
after  a  futile  attempt   under  the   walls  of   Stirling  to 
intercept  the  invader,  they  seem  to   have  given  up  all 
idea  of  resistance.     The  so-called  governors  of  the  Scots 
surrendered  and  submitted  on  condition  of  having  their 
lives,  liberties,  and  estates  secured  ;  a  few  patriotic  men 
were  excepted  from  the  benefit  of  the  act,  the  chief  of 
whom  was  Wallace,  against  whom  as  the  leading  spirit 
of  liberty  Edwards  indignation  burned  most  hotly,  and 
whom  the  selfish  and  jealous  lords  cared  least  to  protect. 
StirHng,  after  a  brave  resistance,  surrendered  in  July  and 
Scotland  seemed  to  be  at  last  subdued.     The  hero  Wal- 
Captnreand     ^^^^'  X.-^^^^^  by  treachery  in  1305,  was  sent  to 
Wallace"''     London   to  be  tried  and  put   to  death  as  a 
traitor.     The   execution   of   this  sentence   is 
one  of  the  greatest  blots  upon  Edward's  character  as  a 
high-minded  prince.    Only  the  profound  conviction  that 
his  own  claims  over  Scotland  were  indisputably  legal  and 
that  all  the  misery  and  bloodshed  which  had  followed  the 
renewal  of  the  war  must  justly  be  charged  upon  Wallace 
—a  conviction  akin  in  origin  to  the  other  mistakes  which 
we  have  traced  in  Edward's  great  career— can  have  over- 
come the  feeling  of  admiration  and  sympathy  which  he 
must  have  felt  for  so  brave  a  man. 

Wallace  perished  in  1305.  In  the  same  year  Edward 
drew  up  a  new  constitution  for  Scotland,  dividing  the 
country  into  sheriffdoms  like  the  English  counties  and 
providing  machinery  for  the  representation  of  the  Scots 


A.D.    1306-7. 


Edward  L 


249 


at  the  meetings  of  the  English  parliament.      But  the  ar- 
rangement  was  very  shortlived.     Scarcely  four  months 
had  elapsed  when  the  new  and  more  success-    Edward's 
ful   hero  of  Scottish   history,   Robert  Bruce,     "ewconsti- 

tuiion  for 

declared   hnnself      He  was   the   son  of  the     Scotland. 
regent  Earl  of  Carrick,  but  had  hitherto  clung  to  the 
English  interest,  in  the  hope  that  Edward  would  at  last 
set  him  in  the  place  of  Balliol.     When  the  new  measures 
for  the  government  of  Scotland  were  drawn  up,  disap- 
pointment, mingled  perhaps  with  the  shame  which  Wal- 
laces   death  must  have  inspired,  led   him   to   quit    the 
court  and  return  to  Scotland.     At  Dumfries,     Return  of 
early  in   1306,  he  slew  John  Comyn,  the  late     ^"uSo 
regent,  whom  he  could   not  induce   to  join     Scotland. 
him.     He  then  gathered  round  him  all  whom  he  could 
prevail  on  to  trust  him ;  and  by  his  energy  and  military 
ability   took  all  his  enemies  by  surprise.     In  March  he 
was  crowned  at  Scone. 

His  success  was  too  great  to  be  permanent;  before 
the  close  of  the  summer  Aymer  de  V^alence,  Edward's 
lieutenant,  had  driven  him  into  the  islands,  i.^  .^  ,  r 
and  the  king  himself  soon  followed  and  put  I5ruce. 
an  end  to  all  collective  opposition.  Still  Bruce  was 
active,  and  defied  all  attempts  to  crush  him.  Constantly 
put  to  flight  and  as  constantly  reappearing,  he  kept  the 
English  armies  on  the  alert  during  the  winter  of  1306 
and  the  spring  of  1307  ;  and  in  July,  on  his  last  march 
from  Carlisle  against  him,  king  Edward  died. 

Edward  had  just  passed  into  his  sixty-ninth  year.  He 
was  older  than  any  king  who  reigned  in  England  before 
him,  nor  did  any  of  his  successors  until  Eliza-  Death  of 
beth  attain  the  same  length  of  years.  His  Edward  I. 
life  had  been  one,  in  its  earlier  and  later  portions,  of 
great  exertion,  both  bodily  and  mental ;  and  constant 
labour  and  irritation  had  made  him  during  his  latter  years 


250  The  Early  PlaJitagcncts.        a. d.  1307. 

somewhat  harsh  and  austere.     His  son  Edward  gave  no 
hopes  of  a  happy  or  useful  reign  ;  he  had  already  chosen 
his    friends  in  detiance  of  his   father's  wishes,  and  had 
been  rebuked  by  the  king  himself  for  misconduct  towards 
his  ministers.      Edward  had  outlived,  too,  most  of  his 
early  companions  in  arms ;  he  saw  a  generation  spring- 
ing up  who  had  not  passed  through  the  training  which 
he  and  they  had  had,  and  who  were  more  luxurious  and 
Hischarac-     extravagant,  less   polished   and    refined  than 
modves.         ^^^  ""^^^  ^^  ^^^  youth.     An  earnestly  religious 
man,  he   had  been  unable  to  keep  on  good 
terms  with  the  great  scholar  and  divine  who  filled  the 
see  of  Canterbury,  or  even  with  the  Pope  himself.     The 
people  for  whom  he  had  laboured  and  cared  were  scarcely 
as  yet  able  to  understand  how  much  they  had  gained  by 
his  toil  ;  how  even  in  his  foreign  undertakings  he  was 
fighting  the  battles  of  England  and  earning  for  them  and 
for  their  posterity  a  place  which  should  never  again  be  lost 
in  the  councils  of  Europe.   But  though  his  bodily  strength 
was  gone  his  mental  vigour  was  not   abated,  nor   his 
belief  in  the  justice  of  his  cause.     When  he  made  his 
solemn  vow,  at  the  knighting  of  Prince  Edward  in  1306, 
to  avenge  the  murder  of  Comyn  and  punish  the  broken 
faith  of  the  Scots,  he  looked  on  them  not  as  a  noble 
nation  fighting  for  liberty,  but  as  a  perjured   and   re- 
bellious company  of  outlaws,  whom  it  would  be  a  shame 
to  him  as  a  king  and  as  a  knight  not  to  punish.     The  sin 
of  breaking  foith,  the  crime  which  his  early  lessons  had 
taught  him  to  think  the  greatest  which  could  be  com- 
mitted by  a  king,  the  temptation  to  which  he  believed 
himself  to  have  overcome,  and  which  he  even  inculcated 
on  posterity  by  the  motto  *  Pactum  serva  '  on  his  tomb,— 
in  his  eyes  justified  all  the  cruelty  and  oppression  which 
marked  his  treatment  of  the  Scots.     Cruel  it  was,  what- 
ever allowances  are  to  be  made  for  the  exaggeration  of 


A.D.   1307. 


Edward  II. 


2Si 


contemporary  writers  or  for  the  savageness  of  contem- 
porary warfare.  Yet  it  was  not  the  bitter  cruelty  of  the 
tyrant  directed  agai.ist  the  liberty  of  a  free  nation. 

Edward's  death  took  place  at  Burgh-on-the-Sands, 
in  Cimiberland,  on  the  7th  of  July,  1307.  His  character 
we  have  tried  to  draw  in  tracing  the  history  of  his  acts. 
His  work  remains  in  the  history  of  the  country  and  the 
people  whom  he  loved. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


EDWARD    II. 


Character  of  Edward  II.— Piers  Gaveston— The  Ordinances— Tho- 
mas of  Lancaster— The  Despensers— The  king's  ruin  and  death. 

It  15   not  often  that  a  strong  son    succeeds    a    strong 
father,  and  where  that  is  the  case  the  result  is  not  always 
salutary.     If  Edward   I.  had  left  a  son  like     Reaction- 
himself,  a  new  fabric  of  despotism  might  have     ^^^  P^'^'^y 
been  raised  on  the  foundation  of  strong  govern-     H.  ^'^'^^'"'^ 
ment  which  he  had  laid.     Sometimes  such  alternations 
have  worked  well  ;  a  weak  administration  following  on  a 
strong  one  has  enabled  the  nation  to  advance  all  the 
more  firmly  and  strongly  for  the  discipline  to  which  it  has 
been  subjected ;  and  a  strong  reign  following  a  weak  one 
has  taught  them  how  to  obtain   from    the   strong   suc- 
cessor   the    consolidation    of    reforms    won    from    the 
weakness    of   the    predecessor.      But    more    commonly 
the  result  has  been  a  simple  reaction,  and  the  weak  son 
has  had  to  bear  the  consequences  of  his  father's  exercise 
of  power,  the  strong  son  has  had   to  repair  the  mischief 
caused  by  his  fathers  weakness.     The  case  of  Edward 
II.,  however,  does  not  come  exactly  under  either  gene- 
ralisation.     It  was  no  mere   reaction   that   caused   his 


252 


The  Early  Plantageiicts. 


A.D.  1307. 


reign  to  stand  in  so  strong  contrast  to  his  fathers. 
Instead  of  following  out  his  fathers  plans  he  re- 
versed them  ;  and  his  fate  was  the  penalty  exacted  by 
hatreds  which  he  had  drawn  upon  himself,  not  the  result 
of  a  reaction  upon  a  policy  which  he  had  inherited.  He 
cast  away  at  the  beginning  of  the  reign  his  father's  friends, 
and  he  made  himself  enemies  where  he  ought  to  have 
looked  for  friends,  in  his  own  household  and  within  the 
narrowest  circle  of  home. 

Edward  II.  was  the  fourth  son  of  Edward  I.  and 
Eleanor.  John,  their  eldest  boy,  had  died  in  1272; 
Personal  Henry,  the  next,  died  in  1274;  Alfonso,  the 
faJourftef  of  ^^^^d,  lived  to  be  twelve  years  old,  and  died  in 
Edward  II.  1 285.  Edward  was  born  in  1 284,  at  Carnarvon, 
became  heir-apparent  on  his  brother's  death,  and  in  1301 
was  made  Earl  of  Chester  and  Prince  of  Wales.  Losing 
his  mother  in  1290,  he  was  deprived  of  the  early  teaching 
which  might  have  changed  his  whole  history.  His 
father,  although  he  showed  his  characteristic  care  in 
directing  the  management  of  his  son's  household,  in 
choosing  his  companions,  and  rebuking  his  faults,  was 
far  too  busy  to  devote  to  him  the  personal  supervision 
which  would  have  trained  him  for  government  and 
secured  his  affections.  He  grew  up  to  dread  rather  than 
to  love  him,  hating  his  father's  ministers  as  spies  and 
checks  upon  his  pleasures,  and  spending  his  time  in 
amusements  unbecoming  a  prince  and  a  knight.  His 
most  intimate  friend.  Piers  Gaveston,  the  son  of  an 
old  Gascon  servant  of  his  father,  had  been  assigned 
Piers  l^iiTi  by  the  king  as  his  companion,  and  had 

Gaveston.  gained  a  complete  mastery  over  him.  Gaves- 
ton was  an  accomplished  knight,  brave,  ambitious,  in- 
solent and  avaricious,  like  the  foreign  favourites  of  Henry 
III.  Edward,  although  a  handsome,  strong  lad,  did  not 
care  to  practise  feats  of  arms  or  to  follow  the  pursuits  of 


A.D.   1307. 


Edward  II. 


253 


war.  He  was  fond  of  hunting  and  country'  life,  averse  to 
public  labour,  but  splendid  to  extravagance  in  matters 
of  feasting  and  tournament.  He  was  indolent,  careless 
about  making  new  friends  or  enemies  ;  the  only  strong 
feeling  which  marked  him  was  his  obstinate  champion- 
ship of  the  men  whom  he  believed  to  be  attached  to 
himself.  Edward  was  not  a  vicious  man,  but  he  was 
very  foolish,  idle,  and  obstinate,  and  there  was  nothing 
about  him  that  served  to  counterbalance  these  faults  or 
invite  sympathy  with  him  in  his  misfortunes.  Edward  I. 
some  months  before  his  death  had  found  out  this  to  his 
sorrow.  He  saw  in  the  influence  that  Gaveston  had  won 
a  sign  that  the  scenes  were  to  be  repeated  which,  as  he  so 
well  remembered,  had  marked  the  stormy  period  of  his 
own  youth.  He  had  banished  Gaveston  from  court  and 
made  him  swear  not  to  return  without  his  leave.  No 
sooner  was  he  dead  than  the  favourite  was  recalled,  and 
by  his  return  began  that  series  of  miseries  which  over- 
whelmed himself  first,  and  then  his  master,  and  the  con- 
sequences of  which  ran  on  in  long  succession  until  the 
great  house  of  Plantagenet  came  to  an  end. 

Edward  was  absent  when  his  father  died,  but  within 
a  few  days  he  had  rejoined  the  army,  was  received  as 
king,  without  waiting  for  coronation,  by  the  Peace  with 
English  and  Scottish  lords,  and  proclaimed  Scotland. 
his  royal  peace.  One  of  his  father's  last  injunctions,  that 
he  should  promptly  and  persistently  follow  up  the  war, 
was  set  aside  from  the  first  ;  Aymer  de  Valence  was 
made  commander  and  governor  of  Scotland,  and  the 
king  himself  moved  southwards.  Another  of  his  father's 
commands  was  set  at  nought  directly  after  :  Gaveston 
was  recalled  and  raised  to  the  earldom  of  Cornwall. 
Waker  Langton,  the  late  king's  treasurer  and  chief 
minister,  was  removed  from  office  and  imprisoned,  and 
the  chancellor  also  was  displaced.     Edward  I.  was  not  yet 


254  The  Early  Plaiitagencts.        a.d.  i-^oS 

buried,  and  his  son's  first  parliament,  called  at  North- 
ampton, in  October  1307,  was  asked  to  provide  money 
for  the  expenses  of  the  funeral  and  the  coronation ;  for 
already  it  was  said  the  favourite  had  got  hold  of  the 
treasure  and  was  sending  it  to  his  foreign  kinsfolk.  But 
the  jealous  nobles  were  not  inclined  to  hurry  matters  as 
yet ;  the  parliament  granted  money ;  Edward  I.  was 
solemnly  buried  ;  and  orders  were  given  to  prepare  for 
the  coronation  in  February  1308. 

The  young  king  had  been  betrothed  to  Isabella  of 
France,  the  daughter  of  Philip  the  Fair.     He  wished  that 
Marriage  of     ^'^  young  bride  should  be  crowned  with  him, 
'iilh''"^         ^"^  ^^  crossed  over  to  Boulogne  to  marry  her! 
FWe'^°^      The   indignation    of    the    lords  and    of    the 
country-  at  the  recall  and  promotion  of  Gaves- 
ton  was  fanned  into  a  flame  by  the  announcement  that, 
as  It  was  necessary  to  appoint  a  regent  during  the  king^s 
short  absence,  the  Earl  of  Cornwall  with  full  and  even 
peculiar  powers  was  appointed  to  the  place.     It  became 
clear  that  the  coronation  could  scarcely  take  place  with- 
out an  uproar. 

Nor  was  the  question  of  coronation  itself  without  some 
difficulties;  for  Archbishop  Winchelsey,  although  invited 
The  Coro-  by  the  new  king,  had  not  yet  returned  from 
nation.  banishment,  and  it  was  by  no  means  safe  for 

any  other  prelate  to  act  in  his  stead.  After  a  little  delay 
Winchelsey  consented  to  empower  a  substitute  ;  and 
Edward  II.  and  Isabella  were  crowned  on  the  25th  of 
February  by  the  Bishop  of  Winchester.  The  form  of  the 
coronation  oath  taken  on  this  occasion,  perhaps  for  the 
first  time  in  this  shape,  is  worth  careful  remark.  In  it  the 
king  promises  to  maintain  the  ancient  laws,  to  keep  the 
The  corona-  peace  of  God  and  the  people,  and  to  do  right 
tmn  oath.  judgment  and  justice.  So  much  was  found^'in 
the  older  formula  ;  but  another  question  was  put  :   'Will 


A.D.    \XO%. 


Edward  II. 


^55 


you  consent  to  hold  and  keep  the  laws  and  righteous 
customs  which  the  community  of  your  realm  shall  have 
chosen,  and  will  you  defend  them  and  strengthen  them  to 
the  honour  of  God,  to  the  utmost  of  your  power  .^'     If,  as 
is  supposed,  these  words  were  new,  they  seemed  to  con- 
tain a  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the  community  of  the 
realm  had  now  entered  into   their  place  as  entitled  to 
control  by  counsel  and  consent  the  legislative  action  and 
policy  of  the  king.    And  so  construed  they  form  a  valu- 
able comment  on  the  results  of  the  last  reign,  which  had 
seen  the  community  organised  in  a  perfect  parliament 
and  admitted  to  a  share  of  the  responsibilities  of  govern- 
ment.    The  lords  heard  them  with  interest ;  even  if  they 
had  been  used  at  the  coronation  of  Edward  I.  few  were 
old  enough  to  remember  them.     They  saw  in  them  either 
an  earnest  of  good  government  or  a  lever  by  which  thev 
themselves  could  remedy  the  evils  of  misgovernment,  and 
they  proceeded   to  try  the  maiden  weapon   against  the 
favourite  whom  they  now  hated  as  well  as  feared. 

Gaveston   had  at  first  tried   to   propitiate   the  more 
powerful  lords  of  the  court,  especially  Earl  Thomas  of 
Lancaster  and  Henry  de  Lacy,  Earl  of  Lincoln. 
The  latter  was  an  old  and  trusted  servant  of    EarUf^ 
Edward  I.    Thomas  of  Lancaster  was  the  son     i^^ncaster. 
of  Earl  Edmund  of  Lancaster,  the  younger  son  of  Henry 
III.,  who  had  been  titular  King  of  Sicily;  his  mother 
was  Blanche,  the  Queen    Dowager   of  Navarre,  whose 
daughter  by  her  first  husband  had  married  Philip  the 
Fair.     He  was  thus  cousin  to  the  king  and  uncle  to  the 
queen  ;  he  possessed  the  great  estates  with   which  his 
grandfather  and  uncle  had  founded  the   Lancaster  earl- 
dom ;  he  was  Earl  of  Leicester  and  Derby  also,  and  had 
thus  succeeded    to  the  support  of  those  vassals  of  the 
Montforts  and  the  Ferrers  who  had  sustained  them  in 
their  struggle  again«^t  the  crown;  and  he  was  the  son-in- 


2qo 


The  Early  Plaittagcncts.        a.d.  1308.  j 


law  and  heir  of  Henry  de  Lacy.  Distantly  following  out 
the  policy  of  Earl  Simon,  he  had  set  himself  upas  a  friend 
of  the  clergy  and  of  the  liberties  of  the  people.  Person- 
ally he  was  a  haughty,  vicious,  and  selfish  man,  whom 
the  mistakes  and  follies  of  Edward  II.  raised  into  the  fame 
of  a  popular  champion,  and  whom  his  bitter  sufferings 
and  cruel  death  promoted  to  the  rank  of  a  martyr  and 
a  saint.  But  he  was  not  a  man  of  high  principle  or  threat 
capacity,  as  the  result  proved. 

No  sooner  had  Gaveston  made  good  his  position  than 
by  his  wanton  insolence  he  incurred  the  hatred  of  Earl 
Gaveston  Thomas,  and  by  the  same  folly  provoked  the 
and  the  animosity  of  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  the  king's 

cousin,  of  the  Earl  of  Hereford,  his  brother-in- 
law,  and  of  the  strong  and  unscrupulous  Earl  of  Warwick, 
Guy  Beauchamp.     Some  of  them  he  had  defeated  in  a 
tournament ;  nicknames  he   bestowed  on  all.     One  good 
friend  Edward  had  tried  to  secure  him;  he  had  married 
him  to  a  sister  of  Earl  Gilbert  of  Gloucester,  the  king's 
nephew   and  their  common    playfellow  ;  but  even  Earl 
Gilbert  only  cared  sufficiently  for  him  to  try  to  mediate 
in  his  fiivour  :  he  would  not  openly  take  his  side.     The 
storm  rose  steadily.    Shortly  after  the  coronation  a  great 
council  was  held  in  which  his  promotion  was  the  chief 
topic  of  debate,  and  on  the  i8th  of  May  he  was  banished. 
Banishment     ^dward  tried  to  lighten  the  blow  by  appoint- 
or Gaves-        ing  him  lieutenant  of  Ireland,  and  besought 
the  interposition  of  the  King  of  France  and 
the  Pope  in  his  favour.     All  the  business  of  the  kingdom 
We'^n  the     ^"'^^  delayed  by  the  hostility  of  the  king  and 
king  and  the     the  great   lords.     Money    was   wanted,   and 
^'''^^-  could  be  got  only  through  the  Italian  bankers, 

whom  the  people  looked  on  as  extortioners.  The 
divided  Scots  were  left  to  fight  their  own  battles.  Such 
a  state  of  things  could  not  last  long.     Edward  had  to 


A.D.   1309-10. 


Edward  II. 


257 


meet  his  parliament  in  April   1309.     He  wanted  money 
the  country  wanted  reform,  but  the  king  desired  the  re- 
turn of  Gaveston  even  more  than  money,  and  the  nation 
dreaded  it  more  than  they  desired  reform.     When  the 
estates  met    they  presented   to   Edward   a   schedule  of 
eleven  articles  :  if  these  were  granted  they  would  grant 
money.  The  articles  concerned  several  important  matters- 
the  exaction  of  corn  and  other  provisions  by  the  kin-'s 
agents  under  the  name  of  purveyance,  the  maladministra- 
tion of  justice  and  usurped  jurisdictions  ;  but  the  most 
important  was  one  touching  the  imposts  on  wine,  wool,  and 
other  merchandise  which  had  been  instituted  by  Edward 
1.  in  1303,  after  consultation  with  the  merchants.  Edward 
however,  thought  little  of  the  bearing  of  the  request-  he 
proposed  to  agree  to  it  if  he  might   recall  Gaveston. 
The  parliament  refused  to  listen  to  him,  and  he  adjourned 
the  discussion  until  July.     Then  in  a  session  of  the  ba- 
ronage at  Stamford  he  yielded  the  points  in  question 
and  received  the  promised  subsidy.     But  he  had  already 
recalled  Gaveston  and  by  one  means  or  another  had  ob- 
tamed  the  tacit  consent  of  all  the  great  lords     Reea„of 
except  the   Earl  of  Warwick.     Scarcely  two     -^-"'11 
months  had  elapsed  when  the  storm  rose  again      The 
king  summoned  the  earls  to  council.     The  Earl  of  Lan 
caster  refused  to  meet  the  Earl  of  Cornwall.     Graduallv 
the  parties  were   re-formed  as  before,  and  the  quarrel 
assumed  larger  dimensions.    Gaveston  was  still  the  great 
offence,  but  the  plan  now  broached  by  the  lords  extended 
to  the  whole  administrative  work  of  the  kingdom 

At  the  parliament  which  met  in  March  1310  a  new 
scheme  of  reform  was  promulgated,  which  was  framed  on 
the  model  of  that  of  1258  and  the  Provisions     ^ 
of  Oxford.     It  was  determined  that  the  task    onl^"^ 
of  regulating  the  affairs  of  the  realm  and  of  the  kin^s 
household  should  be  committed  to  an  elected  body  of 


258 


The  Early  Plaiitagcnets,       a.d.  131  i. 


A.D.  1311. 


Edward  II. 


twenty-one  members,  or  Ordainers,  the  chief  of  whom 
was  Archbishop  Winchelsey.  Both  parties  were  repre- 
sented, the  royal  party  by  the  earls  of  Gloucester,  Pem- 
broke, and  Richmond,  the  opposition  by  the  Earls  of 
Lincohi,  Lancaster,  Hereford,  Warwick,  and  Arundel. 
But  the  preponderance  both  in  number  and  influence 
was  against  Gaveston.  They  were  empowered  to  remain 
in  office  until  Michaelmas  131 1,  and  to  make  ordinances 
for  the  good  of  the  realm  agreeable  to  the  tenor  of 
the  king's  coronation  oath.  The  whole  administration 
of  the  kingdom  thus  passed  into  their  hands ;  and 
Edward,  seeing  himself  superseded,  joined  the  army  now 
engaged  in  war  with  Scotland,  and  in  company  with 
Gaveston  continued  on  the  border  until  the  Ordainers 
were  ready  to  report.  During  this  time  the  Earl  of 
Lincoln,  who  had  been  left  as  regent,  died,  and  the 
Earl  of  Gloucester  took  his  place.  The  Ordainers 
immediately  on  their  appointment  issued  six  articles 
directing  the  observance  of  the  charters,  the  careful 
collection  of  the  customs,  and  the  arrest  of  the  foreign 
merchants  ;  but  the  great  body  of  the  ordinances  was 
reserv^ed  for  the  parliament  which  met  in  August  131 1. 

The  famous  document  or  statute  known  as  the  Ordi- 
nances of  131 1  contained  forty-one  clauses,  all  aimed  at 
_         .        existing  abuses.     Some  of  these  abuses  were 

TheOrdi-  ,,    ,  ,.  .,  ,  , 

nances  of  old  long-standing  evils,  such  as  the  miscar- 
^^""  riage  and  delay  of  justice,  the  misconduct  of 

officials,  and  the  maladministration  and  misapplication 
of  royal  property.  Others  were  founded  on  the  policy  of 
the  late  reign,  which  Edward's  ministers  had  perverted 
and  abused  ;  the  Ordainers  had  no  hesitation  in  declaring 
the  customs  duties  established  by  Edward  L  to  be  illegal 
and  contrarv'  to  the  charter.  But  two  classes  of  enact- 
ments are  of  more  special  interest.  Four  whole  clauses 
were  devoted  to  the  punishment  of  the  favourite  and 
of  those  courtiers  who   had  cast  in  their  lot  with  him. 


259 


f 


. 


Gaveston    had  stolen  the  king's  heart  from  his  people, 
and  led  him  into  every  sort  of  tyranny  and  dishonesty; 
the   Lord   Henry  de  Beaumont,  to  whom  Edward  had 
given  the  Isle  of  Man,  and  the  lady  de  \'escy,  his  sister, 
were  Httle  better ;   the  Friscobaldi,  the   Italian  bankers 
who  received  the  customs,  were  the  enemies  of  the  people 
and  mere  instruments  of  oppression.     Gaveston  was  to 
be  banished  for  life,  Beaumont  to  be  expelled  from  the 
council,   and   the   Friscobaldi  to  be   sent   home.      Not 
content  with  this,  the  Ordainers  further  enacted   some 
very  important  limitations  on  the  king's  power.    All  the 
great  officers  of  state  were  to  be  appointed  with  the  counsel 
and  consent  of  the  baronage,  and  to  be  sworn  in  parlia- 
ment ;   the  king  was   not  to  go  to   war  or  to  quit  the 
kingdom  without  the  consent  of   the  barons  in    parlia- 
ment ;  parliaments  were  to  be  called  every  year,  and  the 
king's  servants  were  to  be  brought  to  justice.  The  articles 
thus  seem  to  sum  up  not  only  the  old  and  new  grievances, 
but  the  ideas  of  government  entertained  by  the  Ordainers: 
they  are  to  punish  the  favourite,  to  remedy  the  points  in 
which  the  charter  has  failed,  and  to  restrain  the  power  of 
the  king.     But  the  power  is  only  transferred  from  the 
king  to  the  barons.     There  is  no  provision  analogous  to 
the  principle  laid  down  by  Edward  I.,  that  the 
whole  nation  shall  join  in  the  tasks  and  re-     iheTngV 
sponsibilities  of  national  action.     The  baron-     ^^^  i^arons. 
age,  not  the  three  estates  in  parliament,  are  to  admonish, 
to  restrain,  to  compel  the  king. 

Edward,  after  such  a  struggle  as  he  could  make  to 
save  Gaveston — a  matter  which  was  to  him  far  more  im- 
portant than  any  of  the  legal  questions  involved 
in  the  Ordinances— consented  that  thev  should 
become  law,  intending  perhaps  to  obtain  abso- 
lution when  it  was  needed,  or  to  allege  that 
his  consent  was  given  under  compulsion.     He  went  back 

6  2 


The 

struggle  of 
the  king  in 
favour  of 
Gaveston. 


26o 


The  Early  Plautageiicts.       a,d.  13 12. 


into  the  North,  was  rejoined  by  Gaveston,  and  after  some 
short  consideration  annulled  the  ordinances  which  were 
made  against  him.     The  barons  immediately  on  hearing 
of  this  prepared  to  enforce  the  law  in  arms.     Winchelsey 
excommunicated  the  favourite  ;  the  king  left  no  means 
untried  to  save  him.     After  a  narrow  escape  at  Newcastle, 
where  he  lost  his  baggage  and  the  vast    collection  of 
jewels  which  he  had  accumulated,  many  of  them  belong- 
ing to  the  hereditary  hoard  of  the  crown,  Gaveston  was 
besieged  in  Scarborough  Castle.     In  May  13 12   he  sur- 
rendered, and  was  conducted  by  the  Earl  of  Pembroke 
into  the  South,  to  await  his  sentence  in  parliament.     His 
enemies,  however,  were  too  impatient  to  wait  for  justice. 
The  Earl  of  Warwick  carried  him  off  whilst  Pembroke 
was  off  his  guard,  and  he  was  beheaded  in  the  presence 
Death  of        of  the  Earl  of  Lancaster.     It  is  more  easy  to 
Gaveston.        account  for  than  to  justify  the  hatred  which 
the  earls  felt  towards  Gaveston.     His  conduct  had  been 
offensive,  his  influence  was  no  doubt  dangerous,  but  the 
actual  mischief  done  by  him  had  been  small ;  neither  he 
nor  Edward  had  exercised  power  with  sufficient  freedom 
as  yet  to  merit  such  a  punishment,  and  no  policy  of  mere 
caution  or  apprehension  could  excuse  the  cruelty  of  the 
act.     It  was  a  piece  of  vile  personal  revenge,  for  insults 
which  any  really   great   man   would    have    scorned   to 
avenge. 

From  the  time  of  Gaveston's  death  the  unhappy 
king  remained  for  some  years  the  sport  or  tool  of  con- 
Chan  es  in  tending  parties.  He  was  indeed  incompetent 
theadminis-  to  reign  alonc,  or  to  choose  ministers  who 
could  rule  in  his  name.  The  Earl  of  Pem- 
broke, Aymer  de  \'alence,  the  son  of  that  William  of 
Lusignan,  Henr>'  III.'s  half-brother,  who  was  banished 
in  1258,  first  attempted  to  take  the  reins.  Walter 
Langton   had    made  his    peace    and   become  treasurer 


A.D.  1313. 


Edward  II. 


261 


again ;  and  on  the  death  of  Archbishop  Winchelsey,  in 
'313)  Walter  Reynolds,  the  king's  old  tutor  and  present 
chancellor,  became  primate.  But  these  were  not  men  to 
withstand  the  great  weight  of  the  opposition.  Thomas 
of  Lancaster,  who  on  the  death  of  Henry  de  Lacy  had 
added  the  earldoms  of  Lincoln  and  Salisbury' to  the  three 
which  he  already  held,  treated  on  equal  terms  with  the 
king  as  a  belligerent.  The  mediation  of  the  clergy 
brought  the  two  together  at  the  close  of  131 2,  and  in  the 
autumn  of  131 3  a  general  pacification  was  brought  about, 
followed  by  an  amnesty  and  a  liberal  supply  of  money 
in  Parliament.  The  Ordinances  were  recognised  as  the 
law  of  the  land  ;  the  birth  of  an  heir  to  the  crown  was 
hailed  as  a  good  omen,  and  better  hopes  were  enter- 
tained for  the  future.  The  war  with  Scotland  was  to  be 
resumed,  and  with  secure  peace  order  in  the  government 
must  follow. 

The  Scots  had  been  indeed  left  alone  too  long.     Short 
truces,  desultory  warfare,  the  defeat  of  any  spasmodic 
effort  on  the  part  of  the  English  by  a  deter-     Successes 
mined  policv  on  the  Scottish  side  of  evading     9f  Robert 

r^  '  °       nnice  in 

battle,  had  resulted  in  a  great  increase  of  Scotland, 
strength  in  the  hands  of  Robert  Bruce.  He  had  taken 
advantage  of  the  domestic  troubles  of  England  to  re- 
cover one  by  one  the  strongholds  of  his  kingdom.  It 
was  believed  that  he  had  intrigued  both  with  Gaveston 
and  with  Lancaster.  The  Castle  of  Linlithgow  came  into 
his  hands  in  131 1,  Perth  in  1312,  Roxburgh  and  Edin- 
burgh in  13 1 3.  Stirling,  almost  the  only  fortress  left  in  the 
hands  of  the  English,  was  besieged,  and  had  promised 
to  surrender  if  not  reliev^ed  before  midsummer  1314. 
Edward  prepared  to  take  the  command  of  his  forces  and 
to  raise  the  siege.  But  it  was  no  part  of  Lancaster's  policy 
to  support  him.  Taking  advantage  of  the  article  of  the 
Ordinances  which  forbade  the  king  to  go  to  war  without 


Battle  of 
Bannock- 
burn. 


262  The  Early  Plaittagmets.       a.d.  13 14- 16. 

the  consent  of  the  baronage  in  Parhament,  he  declined 
to  obey  the  summons  to  war  until  Parliament  had  spoken. 
Edward  protested  that  there  was  no  time;   Lancaster  and 
his  confederate  earls  stood  aloof.     The  King  and  Pem- 
broke, with  such  of  the  barons  as  they  coufd  influence, 
and  a  great  host  of  English  warriors,  who  had  no  confi- 
dence in  their  commander,  met  the  Scots  at 
Bannockburn  on  the  24th  of  June,  and  were 
shamefully  defeated.     Edward  lost  all  control 
over  the  country  in  consequence.     The  young  Earl  of 
Gloucester,  whose  adhesion  had  been  a  tower  of  strength 
to  him,  fell  in  the  battle  ;  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  who  had 
fled  with  him,  shared  the  contempt  into  which  he   fell. 
Lancaster  was  practically  supreme  ;  he  and  his  fellows* 
the  survivors  of  the  Ordainers,  appointed  and  displaced 
mmisters,  put  the  king  on  an  allowance,  and  removed  his 
personal  friends  and  attendants  as  they  chose.     In  1-16 
Lancaster  was  chosen  official  president  of  the  royal  coun- 
cil ;   he  was  already  commander-in-chief  of  the  army. 
He  now  sought  the  support  of  the  clergy,  forced  the  king 
Despotism       ^^   ^rder  the   execution   of  the   Ordinances 
o^f^Lancas-      and   conductcd   himself  as   an   irresponsible 
ruler.   But  he  had  not  a  capacity  equal  to  his 
ambition,  and  his  greed  of  power  served  to  expose  his 
real  weakness.      He  acted  as  a  clog  upon  all  national 
action  ;  he  would  not  act  with  the  king,  for  he  hated  him; 
he  dared  not  act  without  him,  lest  his  own  failure  should 
give  his  rivals  the  chance  of  overthrowing   him.     The 
country,    notwithstanding  his   personal   popularity,   was 
miserable  under  him.     The  Scots  plundered  and  ravaged 
as  they  chose.    He  would  not  engage  in  war.     He  would 
not   attend    parliament  or  council.     The  court   became 
filled  with  intrigue.      The  barons  split  up  into  parties  ; 
Edward,  rejoicing  in  the  removal  of  control,  launched 
into    extravagant    expenditure,  and    began  to    form  a 


A.D.    1316-18. 


Edward  II. 


263 


new  party  of  his  own.  With  general  anarchy  it  is  no 
wonder  that  private  war  broke  out,  or  that  private 
war  assumed  the  dimensions  of  public  war.  The  Coun- 
tess of  Lancaster  was  carried  off  from  her  warofthe 
husband  ;  the  Earl  of  Warenne  was  accused  ^^'''^• 
and  the  king  was  suspected  of  conniving  at  the  elope- 
ment. The  earls  went  to  war.  Edward  forbade  Lancaster 
to  stir,  and  Lancaster  of  course  disobeyed  the  order.  In 
the  midst  of  all  this  Robert  Bruce,  in  April  1318,  took 
Berwick. 

There  were  now  three  parties  in  the  kingdom.     Lan- 
caster had  lost  ground,  but  the  king  had  gained  none. 
The  Earl  of  Pembroke  had  been  gradually     conflict  of 
alienated,  and  now  aimed  at  acquiring  power     parties. 
for  himself     The  death  of  the  Earl  of  Gloucester  had 
left   his  earldom  to  be   divided  between  the  husbands 
of  his  three  sisters,  Hugh  le  Despenser,  Roger  d'Amory, 
and  Hugh  of  Audley.     The  division  of  the  great  estates 
was  in  itself  sufficient  to  create  a  new  division  of  parties. 
D'Amory  and  Pembroke  framed   a  league  for  gaining 
influence  over  the  king  in  conjunction  with  Sir  Bartholo- 
mew Badlesmere,  a  bitter  enemy  of  Lancaster.     Hugh  le 
Despenser,  the  father  of  the  one  just  mentioned,  took  on 
himself  to  reform  the  king's  personal  party,  and  was  aided 
by  the  few  barons  and  bishops  whom  Edward  had  been 
strong  enough  to  promote.     The  capture  of  Berwick  had 
one   salutary   effect  :    it   stopped  the    private  war,   and 
shamed  the  three  parties  into  a  compromise  ;     Effects  of 
but  the  compromise  was  itself  a  proof  of  com-     the  loss  of 
mon  weakness.     It  was  concluded  in  August 
1 318,  between  Lancaster  alone  on  his  own  part,  and  ten 
bishops  and  fourteen  temporal  lords  as  sureties  for  the 
king.    It  provided  a  new  form  of  council — eight  bishops, 
four  earls,  and  four  barons  ;  one  other  member  was  to  be 
nominated  by  Lancaster,  who  did  not  deign  to  accept  a 


264  The  Early  Plantagencts.       a.d.  1319. 

seat.      But  this  constitution  had  no  more  permanence 
han  the  former.     The  official  preponderance  was  main- 
tamed  by  Pembroke  and  Badlesmere,  and  they  could  do 
nothmg  .vhilst  the  Earl  of  Lancaster  continued  to  stand 
aloof.     Edward  in  1319  made  a  vain  attempt  to  recover 
Berwick,  but  only  gave  the  Scots  an  opportunity  of  invad- 
mg  Yorkshire,  and  matters  grew  worse  and  worse      Men 
could  not  help  seeing  that  even  Edward  himself  could 
not  mismanage  matters  more  than  thev  were  being  now 
mismanaged,  and  that,  whether  incapable  or  no,  he  had 
never  yet  had  a  chance  of  showing  what  capacity  he  had. 
The  fate  of  Gaveston  might  have  warned  any  who 
counted  on  acquiring  power  by  Edward's  favour ;  and  in 
New  favour-     ^^ct  for  Several  years  he  remained  unburdened 
ues^of  the       and  uncomforted  by  a   confidential  ser^•ant 

.PPn..i  ^"^  ^^^  '''^"^"^  popularity  of  Lancaster 
seemed  now  to  render  the  position  of  the  king's  friend 
Jess  hazardous,  and  an  aspirant  was  found  in  the  youn-er 
Hi^?h  le  Despenser.    He  was  the  grandson  of  that  Hu^h 

^^'Trc\\  '^^  •'■"''^"'^^  ^^  '^^  ^^^^"^^^  government, 
^ho  had    fallen  with   Simon  de  Montfort  at   Evesham 

His  father  now  the  elder  Hugh,  had  been  a  courtier  and 

minister  of  Edward  L,    and   had   been    throughout    the 

early  troubles  of  the  reign  faithful  to  Edward  H.,  but  he 

was  regarded  as  a  deserter  by  the  barons  and  had  a  bitter 

personal  enemy  in  the  Earl  of  Lancaster.     Father  and 

The  Des-        son  were  alike  ambitious  and  greedy  •  thev 

pensers.  g^owed  little  regard  for  either  'the  person  or 

the  reputation  of  their  master,  and  sacrificed  his  interest 

whenever  it  came  in  competition  with  their  own      The 

younger  Hugh,  like  Piers  Gaveston,  was  married  to  one 

of  the  heiresses  of  Gloucester,  and  had  been  appointed  in 

1 318  chamberlain  to  the  king  under  the  government  of 

compromise.      Edward  in   his   weakness  and  isolation 

clung  tenaciously  to  these  men  ;  they  had  inherited  some 


A.D.    I319.2I. 


Edward  II. 


26$ 


\ 


of  the  political  ideas  of  the  barons  of  1258,  and  had  per- 
haps an  indistinct  notion  of  overthrowing  the  influence 
of  Lancaster  by  an   alliance  with  the  commons.      The 
younger  Hugh,  at  all  events,  from  time  to  time  uttered 
sentiments  concerning  the  position  of  the  king  which  were 
inconsistent  with  the  theory  of  absolute  royalty  ;  he  had 
said  that  the  allegiance  sworn  to  the  king  was  due  to  the 
crown  rather  than  to  the  person  of  the  sovereign,  and 
that  if  the  king  inclined  to  do  wrong  it  was  the  duty  of 
the  liegeman  to  compel  him  to  do  right.     Another  part 
of  the  programme  of  the  Despensers  involved  a  more 
distinct  recognition  of  the  right  of  parliament  than  had 
ever  been   put  forth  by  Lancaster,  and  it  would  seem 
probable  that  they  hoped  by  maintaining  the  theorv  of 
national  action,  as   stated  by  Edward   L,  to  strengtlien 
their  master's  position,  and  through  it  to  strengthen  their 
own.      So   low,  however,  was   the  political   morality  of 
the  time,  that  the  same  selfish  objects  were  hidden  un- 
der widely  different  professions.     The    Despensers  had 
sadly  miscalculated  the  force  of  the  old  prejudice  against 
court  favourites,  and  did  not  see  how  every  step  in   ad- 
vance made  them  new  enemies.     The  Earlof  Lancaster 
saw   in   their   unpopularity   a   chance  of  recovering  his 
place  as  a  national  champion,  and  a  quarrel  among  the 
coheirs  of  Gloucester  gave  the  opportunity  for  an  outcry. 
Hugh  of  Audley,    who    had   married    Piers    Gaveston's 
widow,  and  who  was  therefore  a  rival  and  brother-in-law 
of  Hugh  le  Despenser,  showed  some  signs  of  contuma- 
cious conduct  in  the  marches.     The  Earl  of  Hereford 
and  Roger  Mortimer,  the  Lord  of  Wigmore,  declined  to 
join  in  the  measures  necessary  to  reduce  him  to  order, 
and  refused  to  meet  the  Despensers  in  council  ;  and  in  a 
parliament  which  the  king  called  to  meet  on  the  15th 
of  July,   1321,  the- whole  baronage   turned   against  the 
favourites.     Their  attempts  to  influence  the  king,  their 


266 


TJie  Early  Plantagcnets.       a.d.  1322. 


greedy  use  of  the  king's  name  for  their  own  purposes,  the 
rash  words  of  the  younger  Hugh,  the  vast  acquisitions  of 
his  father,  their  unauthorised  interference  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  government,  and  their  perversion  of  justice 
were  alleged  as  demanding  condign  punishment. 

The  Earl  of  Hereford,  Edward's  brother-in-law,  made 
the  charge  before  the  three  estates,  and  the  lords,  '  peers 
Sentence  ^^  ^^^  land,'  as  they  now  perhaps  for  the  first 
against  the      time  Called  themselves,  passed  the  sentence 

Despensers.  .   .      .  .  -,        •■,  ,  r^, 

01  lorfeiture  and  exile  on  the  two.  They  were 
not  to  be  recalled  except  by  consent  of  parliament,  and 
a  separate  act  was  passed  to  ensure  the  immunity  of 
the  prosecutors  and  the  pardon  of  those  who  had  taken 
up  arms  to  overthrow  them.  This  was  Lancaster's  last 
triumph,  and  it  was  very  shortlived.  In  the  month  of 
October  the  Lady  Badlesmere  shut  the  gates  of  Leeds 
Castle  against  the  queen,  and  Edward  raised  a  force  to 
avenge  the  insult  offered  to  his  wife.  All  the  earls  of  his 
party  joined  him,  and  the  Earl  of  Lancaster,  who  hated 
Badlesmere  for  his  old  rivalry,  did  not  interfere  to  protect 
him.  Finding  himself  for  the  first  time  at  the  head  of  a 
sufficient  force,  the  king  determined  to  enforce  order  in 
the  marches  and  to  avenge  his  iriends  the  Despensers. 
He  marched  against  the  border  castles  of  the  Earl  of 
Hereford,  Audley,  and  D'Amory.  On  receiving  news  of 
this  Lancaster  at  once  discovered  his  mistake,  and  called 
a  meeting  of  his  party — the  good  lords,  as  they  were 
called — at  Doncaster.  Both  parties  showed  great  energy, 
but  the  king  had  got  the  start.  He  obtained  from  the 
convocation  of  the  clergy  of  Canterbury,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  archbishop,  his  old  tutor,  a  declaration  that  the 
War  sentence  against  the  Despensers  was  illegal, 

ktngTnd*^^  and. lost  no  time  in  forcing  his  way  towards 
the  barons.  Hereford  to  punish  the  earl  who  had  procured 
it.     On  his  way  he  defeated  the  Mortimers.     He  took 


A.D.   U22. 


Edward  II. 


26'J 


Hereford  ;   and  having  reached  Gloucester  in  triumph, 
on  the  nth  of  February,  recalled  his  friends  to  his  side.' 
Lancaster  and  his  party  were  not  idle,  but  they  under- 
rated the  importance  of  the  crisis    and   divided    their 
forces.      One  part  was  sent  to  secure  the  king's  castle 
of  Tickhill,  the  other,  under  Lancaster  himself,  moved 
slowly  towards  the  south.     Edward,  in  the  hope  of  inter- 
cepting the  latter  division,  moved  northwards  from  Ciren- 
cester, and  the  earl,  when  he  reached  Burton-on-Trent, 
did  not  venture  any  farther.     On  the  news  of  his  flight 
his  castles  of  Kenilworth  and  Tutbury  surrendered,  and 
Edward   started   in   pursuit.     The  unfortunate  earl  had 
reached    Boroughbridge    on    his  way   to    his    castle    of 
Dunstanburgh,   with    his    enemies    close    behind    him, 
when    he    learned    that  his  way   was   blocked   by    Sir 
Andrew   Harclay,   the   governor   of    Carlisle,  who   was 
coming  to  meet  the  king.     A  battle  ensued,  in     g^^^,^  ^j. 
which   the  Earl   of  Hereford  was  slain,   the     Borough- 
forces  of  Lancaster  were  defeated,    and  the     ^"'^^^^ 
earl  himself  forced  to  surrender.     He  was  taken  on  the 
17th  of  March,  and  on  the  22nd  was  tried  by  the  king's 
judges,  in  the  presence  of  the  hostile  earls,  in  his  own 
castle   of  Pomfret.     He  was   condemned    as   a    traitor. 
Evidence  of  his   intrigues  with  the  Scots  was  adduced 
to  give  colour  to  the  sentence,  and  he  was  beheaded  at 
once.     So  the  bloodof  Gaveston  vvasavenored,     t^ 

1    .1        ^.j         ^  ,       ,  to      J      Execution 

and  the  tide  of  savage  cruelty  began  to  flow    of  Lancas- 
in    a    broader    stream,  to   be  avenged,  like     ^^''' 
Lamech,  seventy   and   sevenfold.     At  once  the  people, 
hating  the   Despensers   and   misdoubting  Edward,   de- 
clared that  the  martyr  of  Pomfret  was  worthy  of  canon- 
isation :  miracles  were  wrought  at  his  tomb ;  it     Ulterior 
was  a  task  worthv  of  heroes  and  patriots  to     consequen- 

,  .      J         1     '  T  T  •  ,  ^^'^  of  the 

avenge  his  death.  His  name  became  a  watch-    execution. 
word  of   liberty  ;  the  influence  which  he  had  laboured 


268 


The  Early  Plantagencts. 


A.D.  1322. 


to  build  up  became  a  rival  interest  to  that  of  the  crown. 
First,  Edward  II.  and  the  Despensers  fell  before  it; 
then,  in  the  person  of  Henry  IV.,  the  heir  of  Lancaster 
swept  from  the  throne  the  heir  of  Edward's  unhappy 
traditions.  In  the  next  century  the  internecine  struggle 
of  the  Roses  wore  out  the  force  of  the  impulse,  and\et 
enough  was  left  to  stain  from  time  to  time  the  scaffolds 
of  the  Tudors,  long  after  the  last  male  heir  of  the  Plan- 
tagenets  had  perished. 

Some  few  of  the  other  hostile  barons  perished  in  the 
first  flush  of  the  triumph  ;  Badlesmere,  in  particular,  was 

?A\Tordi  ^^^^"  ^^^  hanged.  Roger  D'Amory  was  dead. 
nances  of  '  The  Audleys  were  spared.  About  thirty  were 
'3".  put  to  death  ;  many  were  imprisoned  ;  many 

more  paid  fines  or  forfeitures  which  helped  to  enrich  the 
Despensers.  Edward  was  now  supreme,  and  took,  as 
might  be  expected,  the  opportunity  to  undo  all  that' his 
enemies  had  tried  to  do.  In  his  first  parliament,  held  at 
York,  six  weeks  after  the  battle,  he  procured  the  revoca- 
tion of  the  Ordinances,  and  an  important  declaration  on 
the  part  of  the  assembled  estates  that  from  henceforth 
'  matters  to  be  established  for  the  estate  of  our  lord  the 
king  and  of  his  heirs,  and  for  the  estate  of  the  realm 
and  of  the  people,  shall  be  treated,  accorded,  and  estab- 
lished in  parliaments  by  our  lord  the  king  and  by  the 
consent  of  the  prelates,  earls  and  barons,  and  commonalty 
of  the  realm,  according  as  hath  been  hitherto  accus- 
tomed.' No  ordinances  were  to  be  made  any  more  like 
the  Ordinances  of  131 1.  The  declaration,  intended  to 
secure  the  crown  from  the  control  of  the  barons,  enun- 
ciates the  theory  of  constitutional  government.  And  thus 
the  Despensers  tried  to  turn  the  tables  against  their  foes. 
But  although  they  determined  to  annul  the  Ordinances 
they  did  not  venture  to  withdraw  the  material  benefits 
which  the  Ordinances  had  secured.  The  king,  immediately 


A.D.  1323. 


Edward  IL 


269 


after  the  revocation,  reissued  in  the  form  of  an  ordinance 
of  his  own  some  of  the  most  beneficial  provisions  ;  and 
the  parliament  responded  by  reversing  the  acts  against 
the  favourites  and  granting  money  for  defence  against 
the  Scots. 

It   was   indeed   high   time,   for   such   had   been   the 
course   of  recent  events   that   the   attitude   of  the   two 
kingdoms  was  reversed,  and  England  seemed     Campaign 
more  likely  to  become  tributarv  to  Scotland    ?f  Edward 

in  the 

than  to  exercise  sovereignty  over  it.  Edward's  Nonh. 
campaign  was,  however,  as  usual,  unsuccessful.  He 
narrov.ly  escaped  capture  amongst  the  Yorkshire  hills, 
and  the  whole  county  was  in  such  alarm  that  he  found  it 
scarcely  possible  to  hold  a  parliament  at  York.  Nor  did 
his  troubles  end  there.  Early  in  the  following  year  he 
found  that  Sir  Andrew  Harclay,  whom  be  had  just  made 
Earl  of  Carlisle,  \vas  negotiating  treasonably  with  Robert 
Bruce  ;  he  was  taken,  condemned,  and  executed.  Well 
might  the  unhappy  king  throw  himself  more  desperately 
than  ever  on  the  support  of  the  Despensers,  for  he  knew 
none  others,  even  of  those  who  had  served  him  best  or 
whom  he  had  most  richly  rewarded,  who  were  not  ready 
to  turn  and  betray  him.  With  the  Despensers  he  was 
safe,  for  they,  he  was  sure,  could  only  stand  with  him  and 
must  fall  when  he  fell.  One  thing,  however,  he  did,  in 
itself  wise  and  just — concluding  with  Scotland  a  truce  for 
thirteen  years.  This  was  done  in  May  1323.  Prudent  as 
it  was,  it  alienated  from  him  the  adventurers  who  like 
Henry  de  Beaumont  were  intent  on  carving  out  for  them- 
selves counties  in  conquered  Scotland.  Every-  i^^^  ^\^ 
thing  was  interpreted  in  the  worst  sense  Scotland, 
against  him  :  the  men  who  refused  to  follow  him  to 
war  cried  out  against  the  peace  ;  and  the  men  who  had 
followed  him  to  war  deserted  him.  Thus,  when  he  at 
last  found  himself  without  a  rival  in   the   kingdom,  it 


270  The  Early  Plantagenets.       a.d.  1323. 

seemed  as  if  he  were  left  alone  to  discover  how  ^reat 
depths  of  abasement  were  still  to  be  sounded;  new 
calamities  which,  whoever  really  caused  them,  seemed 
to  result  from  his  own  incapacity.  In  truth,  partly  owino- 
to  Edward's  neglect  of  the  duty  of  a  king,  and  partly 
owing  to  the  mveterate  animosities  following  on  the 
death  of  Lancaster,  the  tide  of  public  and  private  hatred 
was  too  high  to  be  long  resisted.  Yet  the  last  impulse 
came  from  a  quarter  from  which  it  might  have  been 
least  expected  and  from  which  it  was  certainly  least 
deserved. 

Edward,  with  all  his  faults,  had  been  a  kind  husband 
and  father ;  but  he  had  trusted  his  wife  less  implicitly 
Position         than  she  desired  to  be  trusted.     In  this  he 

and  policv  •      ^-z-     i    i  ,         -  «-*ii.j   n\, 

of  the  was  justified   by   the   fact   of    her   close   re- 

<!"««".  lationship  to  the  Earl  of  Lancaster,  and  still 

more  by  the  jealousy  which  she  displayed  towards  his 
confidential  ministers.     Not   only   the   Despensers   but 
Stapleton,  Bishop  of  Exeter,  the  Treasurer,  and  Baldock, 
the  Chancellor,  were  the  objects  of  her  settled  aversion  • 
and  she   lent  a  ready  ear  to  all  who  fancied  that  these 
men  had  injured  them  or  stood  in  the  way  of  their  ad- 
vancement.    The  court  contained  many  such  men,  who 
were  ambitious  of  becoming  ministers  of  state  or  bishops 
and  ready  to  take  either  side  for  gain  ;  men  who  hated 
the    Despensers,  and    who    saw    their   own    prospects 
blighted   by  the   fall   of  Lancaster.     Regularly,  as   the 
tide   had    turned,   as   the  king   or   the   Ordainers    had 
gained  or  lost,  the  great   offices  of  state  had  changed 
hands,  and  there  was  all  the  grudging,  all  the  personal 
animosities,  which  in  later  ages  appear  to  be  inseparable 
from  government  by  party. 

The  events  which  followed  the  peace  with  Scotland 
brought  these  influences  more  strongly  into  play.  The 
shadows    gathered    rapidly   round    the    miserable   kincr 


A.D.    1324. 


Edward  II. 


271 


almost  from  that -hour.  The  constitutional  struggle  had 
ceased.  The  death  of  the  Earl  of  Lancaster  had  rid  the 
Despensers  of  their  most  dangerous  rival,* the  Avarice  and 
revocation  of  the  Ordinances  had  left  the  of'th^DV 
government  in  their  hands,  and  the  death  of  pensers. 
the  Earl  of  Pembroke  in  1324  left  them  without  competi- 
tors. The  elder  Hugh,  now  made  Earl  of  Winchester,  set 
no  limit  to  his  acquisitiveness  ;  he  was  an  old  man,  and 
might  have  considered  that  it  would  be  more  conducive 
to  his  son's  welfare  to  make  friends  than  to  multiply 
estates.  The  younger  Hugh,  himself  a  man  of  mature 
years,  was  made,  by  his  violence  and  pride,  even  more 
conspicuous  than  his  father.  Henry  of  Lancaster,  the 
brother  and  heir  of  Earl  Thomas,  was  reduced  to  prac- 
tical insignificance  by  the  detention  of  his  brother's 
estates  in  the  king's  hands;  and  although  the  Despensers 
sought  to  purchase  his  services,  and  he  had  no  personal 
dislike  to  the  king,  he  could  not  be  regarded  as  a  safe 
and  sound  pillar  of  the  falling  state.  The  ministers 
Baldock  and  Stapleton  were  faithful  men,  but  neither 
wise  enough  to  counteract  nor  strong  enough  to  guide 
the  policy  of  the  favourites. 

Philip  V.  died  in  January    1322,  and  the  homage   of 
Edward  for  the  provinces  of  Ponthieu  and  Gascony  was 
forthwith  demanded  for  his  successor,  Charles     Summons 
IV.     A  series  of  negotiations  followed  which     ^^  Edward 
early  in  1324  led  to  a  peremptory  summons     homage  to 
and  a  threat  of  forfeiture,  no  indistinct  prelude     VrenciT 
to  war.     Edward  might  easily  have   crossed     '^'"s 
over  to  his  brother-in-law's  court,  as  he  had  done  more 
than  once  before,  but  the  Despensers  would  not  allow  it. 
They  dared  not  suffer  him  to  escape  from  their  direct  con- 
trol, they  dared  not  accompany  him  ;  if  he  left  them  in 
England  they  knew  their  doom.     The  French  court  too 
was  filled  with  their  enemies ;    Roger  Mortimer,  the  lord 


2/2  The  Early  Plaiitagcnets.       a.d.  1325. 

of  Wigmore,  who  had  been  taken  prisoner  in  1322,  had 
escaped  from  the  Tower  and  gone  to  France.     Henry 
of   Lancaster   was   waiting  to  supplant  them  at    home. 
War  was  the  only  alternative.     Still   negotiations   pro- 
ceeded.     First    Pembroke   was   sent;    he   died   on   the 
mission  ;  then  Edmund  of  Kent,  the  king's  half-brother ; 
he  failed  to  obtain  terms.     The  king's  most  trusted  chap- 
lains were  sent  to  the  Pope  ;  but  they  spent  their  labour 
and  treasure  in  securing  their  own  promotion.     At  last 
Departure       in  1 325  the  quecn  went  over.    She  parted  ap- 
for  France!''    parentlv  on  the  best  terms  with  both  Edward 
Sof'^  ^y     and  the  Despensers,  and  continued  in  friendly 
Prince  Correspondence   until  she   had   prevailed   on 

Edward.  ^j^g  Ymg  to  send  over  his  eldest  son.  It  was 
arranged  that  the  provinces  should  be  made  over  to  him 
and  that  he  should  do  the  homage.  This  was  done  in 
September  1325,  and  almost  immediately  afterwards  she 
threw  off  the  mask.  How  long  she  had  worn  it  we 
cannot  tell.  Possibly  she  left  Edward  in  good  faith  and 
fell  on  her  arrival  in  France  into  the  hands  of  those  who 
were  embittered  against  him;  possibly  she  was  a  con- 
spirator long  before.  Anyhow  the  tie  to  the  king,  which 
could  be  so  easily  broken,  could  not,  in  the  case  of  either 
mother  or  son,  have  been  a  strong  one.  As  early  as 
December  the  king  was  warned  that  Isabella  and  Edward 
would  not  return  to  him. 

Quickly  she  gathered  round  her  all  whom  the  king 
had  cause  to  fear.  Roger  Mortimer,  whether  by  reason  of 
Intrigues  of  passion  or  of  policy,  gained  complete  as- 
Iwe^  '"  cendency  over  her.  The  young  Edward  was 
instructed  that  it  was  his  duty  to  deliver  his 
father  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Despensers  or  to  deliver 
England  out  of  the  hand  of  Edward.  Edmund  of  Kent, 
the  king's  brother,  was  persuaded  to  join,  and  the  con- 
spirators, if  not  actually  supported  by  promises  from 


A.D.    1326. 


Edward  IT. 


VZ 


England,  were  too  willing  to  believe  that  to  be  victorious 
they  had  only  to  show  themselves.  As  the  French  king 
was  slow  to  commit  himself,  Isabella  contracted  an  alli- 
ance with  the  Count  of  Hainault,  and  obtained  money 
from  the  Italian  bankers.  They  furnished  supplies,  the 
count  furnished  men  and  ships. 

Edward  knew  all  this,  but  he  knew  not  how  to  meet  it. 
In  vain  he  summoned  parliaments  that  would  do  nothing 
when   they  met,   and   ordered   musters   that     j^^, 
would  not  meet  at  all.     He  found  that  all    ne's^ofThe 
whom  he  trusted  deceived  him  ;  that,  except     '''"^* 
the  Despensers  and  the  two  detested  ministers,  none  even 
pretended  to  support  him  ;  and  that  he  was  obliged  to 
depend  on  the  very  men  who  had  the  most  to  avenge.    At 
last    Isabella   landed,  on    September  24,    1326,   on  the 
coast    of     Suffolk,    proclaiming    herself    tJie     Landing  of 
avenger  of  the  blood  of  Lancaster  and  the     ^^-^beiiaon 
sworn  foe  of  the  favourites.      Edward,  who     SuffX'^""^ 
was  in  London,  tried  to  obtain  help  from  the  citizens,  and 
prevailed  on  the  bishops  to 'excommunicate  the  invaders. 
But  early  in  October  he  fled  into  the  West,  where   he 
thought  the  Despensers  were  strong;    on  the   15th  the 
Londoners  rose  and  murdered  the  treasurer  ;  Archbishop 
Reynolds  retired  into  Kent  and  began  to  make  terms  with 
the  queen. 

She  in  the  meantime  moved  on  in  triumph  ;   Henr>' 
of  Lancaster,  the  king's  brothers,  the  earls,  save  Arundel 
and  Warenne,  the  bishops  almost  to  a  man,     ^^^^  , 
joined  her  either  in  person  or  with  effective     march  of^"' 
help.     Adam  Orlton,  the  Bishop  of  Hereford,     /h^  wL^Cf 
who  had  been  the  confidential  friend  of  Bo-     ^^"giand. 
hun,  and   Henry  Burghersh,  the   Bishop  of  Lincoln,  the 
nephew  of  Badlesmere,  led  the  councils  of  aggression. 
They  advanced  by  Oxford  to  attack  Bristol,  where  they 
expected  to  find  Edward  and  the  Earl  of  Winchester 


274 


The  Early  Plantagcncts.       a.d.  1326. 


On  October  26  the  queen  reached  Bristol,  but  her 
husband  had  gone  into  Wales  and  was  attempting  to 
Fall  of  escape  to  Ireland.     The  capture  of  Bristol, 

Bristol.  however,  was  the  closing  event  of  his  reign. 

The  Earl  of  Winchester  was  hanged  forthwith.  The 
young  Edward  was  declared  by  the  lords  on  the  spot 
guardian  of  the  kingdom,  and  he  summoned  a  parlia- 
ment to  meet  in  his  father's  absence.  The  king,  with 
Hugh  le  Despenser  and  Baldock,  were  taken  on  Novem- 
ber 16  ;  on  the  17th  the  Earl  of  Arundel  was  beheaded 
at  Hereford  ;  on  the  24th  Hugh  le  Despenser  was  hanged, 
drawn,  and  quartered  at  the  same  place.  The  parliament 
was  to  settle  the  fate  of  the  king,  and  the  parliament 
Overthrow  met  at  Westminster  on  January  7.  There 
anddeposi-      niattcrs  were  formallv  discussed,  but  the  con- 

tion  01  the  -  ' 

king.  elusion  was,  as  all  the  world  knew,  foregone. 

Even  if  anv  had  thouE^ht  that,  now  that  the  countr\'  was 
rid  of  the  Despensers,  the  king  might  be  allowed  to 
reign  on,  the  dread  of  the  London  mob  and  of  the  armed 
force  which  Mortimer  brought  up  silenced  them.  The 
^\Tetched  archbishop  declared  that  the  voice  of  the  people 
was  the  voice  of  God.  Bishop  Orlton,  professing  to 
believe  that  if  the  king  were  released  the  queen's  life  would 
not  be  safe,  insisted  that  the  parliament  should  choose 
between  father  and  son.  Bishop  Stratford  of  Winchester, 
who  led  the  Lancaster  party  and  had  no  love  for  Mor- 
timer, drew  the  articles  on  which  the  sentence  of  renun- 
ciation was  founded.  The  king,  he  said,  was  incompetent 
or  too  indolent  to  judge  between  right  and  wrong;  he  had 
obstinately  refused  the  advice  of  the  wise  and  listened  to 
evil  counsel  ;  he  had  lost  Ireland,  Scotland,  and  Gascony, 
he  had  injured  the  Church,  oppressed  the  barons,  he 
had  broken  his  coronation  oath,  and  he  was  ruining  the 
land.  After  seme  debate  the  articles  were  placed  before 
the  unhappy  king,  who  confessed  that  they  were  true  and 


A.D.  1327. 


Edward  11. 


275 


f 


that  he  was  not  worthy  to  reign.  On  January  20  he 
resigned  the  crown  and  the  parliament  renounced  their 
allegiance  and  set  his  son  in  his  place.  For  eight  months 
longer  he  dragged  on  a  miserable  life,  of  which  but  little 
is  known.  Men  told  sad  stories  of  suffering  and  insult 
which  after  his  death  provoked  his  kinsmen  to  avenge 
him,  but  none  interfered  to  save  him  now.  The  reign  of 
Mortimer  and  Isabella  was  a  reign  of  terror  ;  and  before 
the  terror  abated  Edward  was  murdered.  The  :\iurder  of 
place  of  his  death,  the  Castle  of  Berkeley,  Kdwardll. 
and  the  date,  September  21,  are  known.  Henry  of  Lan- 
caster, who  was  at  first  appointed  to  guard  him,  had 
treated  him  too  well.  His  new  keepers,  either  prompted 
by  the  queen  and  Mortimer  or  anxious  to  win  a  reward, 
slew  him  in  some  secret  wav.  And  thus  ended  a  reign 
full  of  tragedy,  a  life  that  may  be  pitied  but  affords  no 
ground  for  sympathy.  Strange  infatuation,  unbridled 
vindictiveness,  recklessness  beyond  belief,  the  breach  of 
all  natural  affection,  of  love,  of  honour,  and  loyalty,  are 
here  ;  but  there  is  none  who  stands  forth  as  a  hero. 
There  are  great  sins  and  great  falls  and  awful  vengeances, 
but  nothing  to  admire,  none  to  be  praised. 

So  the  son  of  the  great  king  Edward  perished  ; 
and  with  a  sad  omen  the  first  crowned  head     i„„„wo.,^» 

Importance 

went  down  before  the  offended  nation  ;  with  a     -ind  signifi- 

j  c        •  1  •  1  cance  of  the 

sad  omen,  for  it   was  not  done  m   calm   or     reign  of 
righteous  judgment.     The  unfaithful  wife,  the     ^^^^^^  ^^■ 
undutiful  son,  the  vindictive  prelaie,  the  cowardly  minister 
were  unworthy  instruments  of  a  nation's  justice. 

Such  as  it  is,  however,  the  reign  of  Edward  II.  is 
chiefly  important  as  a  period  of  transition.  It  winds  up 
much  that  was  left  undone  by  his  father ;  it  is  the  seed- 
time of  the  influences  which  ripened  under  his  son.  The 
constitutional  acts  of  1309,  13 10  and  131 1  are  the  supple- 
ment to  those  of  1297;  the  tragedy  of  Piers  Gaveston  and 

T  2 


276 


The  Early  Piajitagenets.       a.d.  1327. 


Earl  Thomas  is  the  primary  cause  of  much  of  the  per 
sonal  history  that  follows.     So,  too,  the  reign  closes  the 
ffreat  interest  of  Scottish  warfare,  and  contains  the  germ 

o 

of  the  long  struggle  with  France.  But  viewed  by  itself 
its  tragic  interest  is  the  greatest ;  and  it  is  rich  in  moral 
and  material  lessons.  It  tells  us  that  the  greatest  sin  for 
which  a  king  can  be  brought  to  .account  is  not  personal 
vice  or  active  tyranny,  but  the  dereliction  of  kingly 
duty  ;  the  selfish  policy  which  treats  the  nation  as  if  it 
were  made  for  him,  not  he  for  the  nation.  It  is  the 
greatest  sin  and  the  greatest  folly,  for  it  at  once  draws 
down  the  penalty  and  leaves  the  sinner  incapable  ot 
avoiding  it  or  resisting  it ;  it  leaves  the  nation  to  be  op- 
pressed by  countless  tyrants,  and  is  by  so  much  worse 
than  the  tyranny  of  one.  It  allows  the  corruption  of 
ustice  at  the  fountain's  head. 

So  we  close  a  long  and  varied  epoch.  The  sum  of 
its  influences  and  results  must  be  read  in  the  history  of 
the  following  age,  in  which,  in  many  important 
points,  the  reign  of  Richard  II.  repeats  the 
tragedy  of  Edward  II.  ;  and  the  struggles  of 
York  and  Lancaster  consummate  the  series  of 
events  which  begin  at  Warwick  and  at  Pomfret; 
in  which  the  constitution  that  we  have  seen  organised 
and  consohdated  under  Henry  II.  and  Edward  I.  is  tested 
to  the  utmost,  strained  and  bent  and  warped,  but  still 
survives  to  remedy  the  tyranny  of  the  Tudors  and  over- 
throw the  factitious  absolutism  of  the  Stewarts. 


Con>titu- 
tional  re- 
sults of  the 
epoch 

closing  with 
his  down- 
fall. 


INDEX. 


-*o*- 


ACC 

ACCURST,  Francesco,  211 
Acre,  siege  of,  110  ;  the  English 

at,  1 12  ;  double  siege  at,  112  ;  taken, 

114 
Adeliza,  queen,  90 
Adrian  IV.,  pope,  28,44 
Alexander  III.,  pope,  3,  68,  87 
Alexander  IV.,  pope,  177 
Alexander,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  20 
Alfonso,  King  of  Castille,  94 
Alfonso,  the  Wise,  21 
Alnwick,  battle  of,  91 
Amalric,  Count  of  Montfort,  185 
Amiens,  council  at,  192 
Amory,    Roger   d',   263  ;  his  death, 

268 
Anarchy  in  the  reign  of  Stephen,  21 
Anglo-Saxon  militia  system,  83 
Anjou,  house   of,  at  Jerusalem,  99  ; 

loss  of,   135 
Anselm,  60 

Aquitaine,  feudal  rights  of,  48,  49 
Archbishops,  disputed  election  oi,  at 

Canterbury,  137 
Arthur,  grandson  of  Henry  II.,  118  ; 

his  claims  to  the  throne,  129  ;  his 

claims  in  France,  133  ;  murder  of, 

135 
Arundel,  earl  of,  90 
Ascalon  rebuilt,  115 
Audley,  Hugh  of,  263 
Aumale,  William  of,  42 
Azai,  conference  at,  103 


BADLESMERE,     Sir  Bartholo- 
mew, 263  ;  his  death,  268 
Badlesmere,  Lady,  266 
Baldock,  chancellor,  270 


BEC 

Baldwin,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
110 

Baldwin  of  Redvers,  17 

Baldwin  the  Leper,  99 

Balliol,  John,  made  king  of  Scot- 
land, 231  ;  summoned  by  Edward 
I.,  245;  at  war  with  Edward  I., 
246  ;  surrender  of,  246 

Bannockbum,  battle  of,  262 

Barbarossa,  Frederick,  35 

Barons,  disputes  with,  143  ;  refuse 
to  serve  under  John,  145  ;  their 
appeal  to  the  laws  of  Henry  I., 
146  ;  their  quarrels  with  John,  148  : 
granting  of  the  Magna  Carta  by 
John,  149;  their  long  list  of 
grievances,  187,  188  ;  disunion 
among,  190  ;  the  differences  with 
the  king  referred  to  arbitration, 
191  ;  refuse  to  abide  by  the  deci- 
sion, 192,  193  ;  victory  of,  at  the 
battle  of  Lewes,  195  ;  defeated  at 
Evesham,  199 ;  their  discontent 
under  the  growth  of  the  royal 
power,  237  ;  assembly  of,  at  Salis- 
bury, 238;  control  of  Edward  II. 
by,  259  ;  at  war  with  Edward  II., 
266 

Barons'  War,  the,  191 

Battles,  Alnwick,  91  ;  Bannockbum, 
262  ;  Boroughbridge,  267;  Bou- 
vines,  147  ;  Consilt,  46  ;  Dunbar, 
246  ;  Evesham,  198  ;  Lewes,  195  ; 
Lincoln,  22, 160  ;  Standard,  18 

Bavaria,  8 

Beauchamp,  Guy,  Earl  of  Warwick, 
256 

Beaumont,  Henry  de,  259 

Becket,  Thomas.  28  ;  appointed   han- 


\ 


// 


2'J'^ 


hidex. 


BER 


cellor,  40 ;  at  the  siege  of  Tou- 
louse, 50 :  his  early  Hie,  62  :  rises 
into  note,  62  ;  as  chancellor,  63 ; 
becomes  archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
64  ;  Henry's  confidence  in  him, 
64  ;  resigns  the  chancery,  66  ;  en- 
forces the  feudal  rights  of  his  see, 
67  ;  opposes  the  king  on  a  finan- 
cial point,  68  ;    his  new  enemies, 

70  ;  quarrels  with  Henry  II.,  71  ; 
defends    the  clerical    immunities, 

71  ;  his  conduct  regarding  the 
Constitutions  of  Clarendon,  73  ;  is 
summoned  to  Northampton,  74 : 
his  trial,  74  ;  his  flight,  75  ;  is 
exiled,  75  ;  under  the  protection 
of  Lewis  VII.,  75  ;  his  interviews 
with  the  king,  76 ;  reconciliation 
with  Henry  II.,  78;  returns  to 
England,  78  ;  murder  of,  78 ;  the 
true  glory  of,  79  ;  pilgrimage  to 
his  grave,  91 

Berengaria,  Princess  of  Navarre,  her 

marriage  with  Richard  I.,  114 
Berksted,   Stephen,  196 
Berwick,  sacked  by  Edward  I.,  246  ; 

capture  of,  by  the  Scotch,  263 
Bibars,  Sultan,  205 
Bigod,  Hugh,  12,  14,  17,  29,  44,  89, 

189 
Bigod,  Roger,  Earl  of  Norfolk,  237 
Bishops,   indemnity  for  their  losses 

caused  by  John,  146 
Bishops,  Norman,  60 
Blanche  ol  Castille,   marries   Lewis 

of  France,  134 
Bohun,  Humfrey,  Earl  of  Hereford, 

237 
Boniface,      Archbi.shop,     172,      176, 

189 
Boniface  VIII.,  pope,  236,  247 
Boroughbridge,  battle  of,  267 
Bouvines,  battle  of,  147 
Braban^on  mercenaries,  89 
Bracton,  Henry,  211 
Breaute,  Falkes  de,  i6i,  163 
Bridgenorth,  siege  of,  43 
Bristol,  fall  of,  274 
Brito,  Richard,  78 
Britten,  judge,  211 
Bruce,   Robert,  Earl  of   Carrick,  as 

regent,  247 
Bruce,   Robert,  son  of  the  Earl  of 

Carrick,  lays  claim  to  the  crown 

ot  Scotland,  229  ;    his  successes  in 

Scotland,  261 


CLI 


Burgh,  Hubert  de,  justiciar,  i6r  ;  as 
regent,  162  ;  work  of.  164  ;  fall  of, 
169  ;  reinstatement  of,  171 

Burghersh,  Henry,  Bishop  of  Lin- 
coln, 273 

Burnell,  Robert,  206,  211 


CADWALADER.  46 
Cambuskenneth,  246 
Campaign  of  1301,  247 
Camvill,  Gerard,  warden  of  Lincoln 

castle,  119 
Camvill,  Nicolaa  de,  159 
Canterbury',     Archbishop      of,      his 

power,    57  ;  disputed    election   of 

the  Archbishop  at,  137 
Castles,  destruction  of,  by  Henry  II., 

Celestine  II I.,- pope,  120 

Chalus-Chabrol,  castle  of,  128 

Chancellor,  his  duties,  63 

Charles  IV.,  King  of  France,  271 

Charters,  confirmation  of  the,  239  ; 
reconfirmation  of  the,  241 

Christianity  in  England,  56 

Church,  English,  its  history',  55  ; 
national  unity  first  realised,  56  ; 
under  the  heptarchy,  56 ;  great 
power  of  the  clergy,  57  ;  alliance 
with  the  State,  57  ;  effect  of  the 
Conquest  on,  58  ;  policy  of  William 
I.  regarding,  59 ;  in  Stephen's 
reign,  61  ;  quarrel  of  John  with, 
137  ;  plunder  of  the  clergy,  144  ; 
state  of,  in   1213,  143 

Clare,  Richard  de  (Strongbow),  his 
conquests  of  Ireland,  86 

Clare,  Richard  de.  Earl  of  Gloucester, 
187,  189  ;  his  death,  191 

Clarendon,  council  at,  72  ;  consti- 
tutions of,  72  ;  council  at,  77  ; 
assize  of,  passed,  77  ;  constitutions 
of,  renounced,  87 

Clement  III.,  pope.  120 

Clement  V.,  pope,  243 

Clergy,  the,  Stephen's  breach  with, 
19  ;  great  power  of,  57  ;  plunder  of, 
144  ;  representation  of,  imder 
Edward  I.,  2215  ;  relations  of 
Edward  I.  with,  234  ;  taxation  of, 
235  ;  Edward  I.  quarrels  with,  236 

Clericis  Laicos,  Bull,  236 

Clerkenwell,  council  of,  100 

ClitTord,  Roger,  justiciar  of  Wales, 
209 


Index, 


279 


CO  I 


Coinage,  debased  by  Stephen,  19 

Commons,  House  of,  224 

Comnenus,  Isaac,  King  of  Cyprus, 
114 

Comyn,  John,  Earl  of  Badenoch,  247, 
249 

Confirmatio  cartarum,  82 

Conquest,  the,  effects  of,  on  the 
Church,  58 

Conrad  of  Hohenstaufen,  27 

Conrad  of  Montferrat,  113 

Conradin,  5 

Consilt,  battle  of,  46 

Constance  of  Brittany,  120 

Constantia  of  France  married  to 
Eustace,  29 

Constitutional  crisis,  237.  238 

Constitutional  grievances  in  1245, 
172 

Constitutions  of  Clarendon,  72  ;  re- 
nounced, 87 

Corbeuil,    William    of,  Archbishop, 

Coronation,  ceremony  of,  45 
Court  of  Common  Pleas,  214 
Court  of  Exchequer,  214 
Court  of  King's  Bench.  214 
Court    of  Rome,    character  of,   86, 

87 
Coutances,  \\  alter  of,  120 

Cowton  Moor,  18 

Crisis  of  1258,    167  ;  why  it  was  de- 
layed, 180 
Crusade,  second,  27 
Crusade,  third,  100.  no 
Crusade  of  Prince  Edward,  205 
Customs,  the  revenue,  219  ;  the  new, 

243 


DANEGELD,  abolition   of,    16, 
53>  69 
David    I.,  King   of    Scotland,    first 
invasion  by,    16  ;  second   invasion 

by,  18 

David,  son  of  Llewelyn.  Prince  of 
Wales,  rebels  against  Edward  I., 
209  ;  his  death,  209 

De  Religiosis  statute,  213,  235 

Despcnser,  Hugh  le,  the  baron's 
justiciar,  189  ;  his  death,  199 

Despenser,  Hugh  le,  the  favourite  of 
Edward  II.,  263  ;  sentence  against, 
266  ;  avarice  and  arrogance  of,  271 

Despenser,  Hugh  le.  Earl  of  Win- 
chester, hanged,  274 


EDW 


Dictum  de  Kenilworth,  199 
Dunbar,  battle  of,  246 
Durham,  Bishop  of,  io8 


EARLS,     appointment     of,     19  ; 
Ecclesiastical    school    in    the 
reign  of  Stephen,  6r 

Ecclesiastical  quarrels,  236 

Edmund  of  Abingdon,  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  170  ;  driven  into 
exile,   176 

Edmund  of  Cornwall,  as  regent,  227 

Edmund,  Earl  of  Kent,  272 

Edward  I.,  at  the  battle  of  Lewes, 
195  ;  proclaimed  king,  200;  joins 
the  crusade,  200  ;  political  educa- 
tion of,  202  ;  motives  determining 
his  crusade,  203  ;  his  English 
policy,  203  ;  his  idea  of  kingship. 
204  ;  crusade  of  1270,  205  ;  his  ac- 
cession to  the  throne,  206  ;  ad- 
ministration of  the  kingdom  during 
his  pilgrimage,  206  ;  his  corona- 
tion, 207  ;  rebellion  of  the  prince 
of  North  Wales,  208;  conquest  of 
Wales,   209;  as  a  lawgiver,    210; 

Erinciples  of  his  legislation,    212  ; 
is    legal    reforms,    212  ;     parlia- 
mentary   settlement     of   revenue 
on,  220  ;  his  first  parliament,  223  ; 
national  policy  of,  226;   evil  con- 
.sequence  caused  by  his  absence, 
227  ;    his  claims    upon    Scotland, 
229  ;  his  relations  with  Philip  IV., 
232  ;  quarrel  with  Philip  IV.,  232  ; 
consequences  thereof,  233  ;his  rela- 
tions with  the  clergy,  234  ;  quarrel:, 
with  the  clergy,  236  ;  resistance  of 
his  subjects,  237,  238  ;  dissatisfied 
with  his   subjects,    241  ;  quarrels 
with  Archbishop  Winchelsey,  242  ; 
his  relations  with  foreign  merchants 
243  ;  concludes  peace  with  France. 
246  ;    marries  Margaret,   sister  of 
Philip   IV..  246  ;  truce  concluded 
with  Scotland,  246  ;  his  new  con- 
stitution   for  Scotland,    248  ;   his 
death,     249 ;     his    character     and 
motives,  250 
Edward   II.,  reactionary  policy  of, 
251  ;  personal  tastes  and  tWvouritcs 
of,  252  ;  his  character,  252  ;  peace 
with    Scotland,    233 ;    married    to 
Isabella  of  France,  254  ;  coronation 
of,  254  ;  controlled  by  the  barons, 


"/ 


(    / 


28o 


Index, 


EDW 


259  ;  his  struggles  in  favour  of 
Gaveston,  259 ;  changes  in  the 
administration,  2?6o  ;  new  favour- 
ites of,  264  ;  at  war  with  the 
barons,  266  ;  his  campaign  in  the 
north,  269  ;  truce  concluded  with 
Scotland,  269  ;  summoned  to  do 
homage  to  Charles  IV.,  271  ;  in- 
trigues of  the  queen  against,  272  ; 
helplessness  of,  273  ;  overthrow 
and  deposition  of,  274  :  murder 
of,  275  ;  importance  and  signifi- 
cance of  his  reign,  275  ;  consti- 
tutional results  of  the  epoch  closing 
with  his  downfall,    276 

£dward  III.,  272  ;  appointed  gover- 
nor of  the  kingdom,  274 

Eleanor,    daughter    of  Henry    II., 

94,95 

Eleanor  de  Montfort,  wife  of  Llewe- 
lyn, Prince  of  Wales,  209 

Eleanor  of  Aquitaine,  27  ;  her  mar- 
riage with  Henry  II.,  30;  regent 
on  the  death  of  her  husband, 
106  ;  her  relations  with  John,  132  ; 
her  death,  135 

Eleanor  of  Provence  marries  Henry 
III.,  172 

Eleanor,  widow  of  William  Marshall, 
her  second  marriage  with  Simon 
de  Montfort,  172 

Election  at  Canterbury,  137 

Evesham,  battle  of,  198 

Exchequer  under  Henry  I.,  216 

Empire,  relations  with  the  papacy,  3 

England,  importance  of  its  work 
during  this  epoch,  5  ;  state  of, 
during  the  absence  of  Henry  II., 
52  ;  under  the  heptarchy,  56  ; 
national  unity  first  realised,  56  ; 
alliance  with  Germany,  76  ;  during 
the  crusade,  116  ;  state  of,  on 
the  death  of  Richard,  130;  separa- 
tion from  Normandy,  136 ;  laid 
under  interdict,  141  ;  national  in- 
activity of,  175  ;  at  war  with 
Scotland,  245  ;  truce  concluded,  246 

Essex,  Earl  of,  251 

Eugenius  III.,  28 

Eustace,  son  of  Stephen,  20 ;  his 
marriage  with  Constantia  of 
France,  29  ;  his  death,  31 


rj*ERRERS,  Earl  of  Derby,  joins 
a  league  against  Henry  II.,  89 


GIL 


Ferrers,  William  of.  Earl  of  Derby 

187 
Feudal  law,  48 
Feudal  lords,  power  of,  213 
Finance,  system  of,  during  the  reign 

of  Edward  I.,  215 
FitzOsbert,  William,  126,  127 
Fitz  Peter,   Geoffrey,  justiciar,    127, 

M5.  146 
FitzUrse,  Reginald,  78 
Fitz  Walter,  Robert,  151,  160 
Flemings,  invasion  of  Normandy  bv 

89 
Foliot,  Gilbert,  29 
Foreign  affairs  in  1258,  167 
France,  alliance  of,  with  Scotland, 

245 
Franconia,  6 
Frederick  I.,  Emperor,  3,  35,  (Z,  76, 

III 
Frederick    II.,    Emperor,     3,     210; 

marries  Isabella,  sister   to  Henry 

III.,  172,  210 
Frederick  of  Swabia,  iii 
French    history,    character    of    the 

epoch  of,  2 
Friscobaldi,  the,  259 
Fulk  the  Good,  Count  of  Anjou,  152 

GASCONS,  the,  rebellion  of,  179 
Gaveston,  Piers,   favourite  of 
Edward  II.,  252  ;  his  hatred  of  the 
earls,    256 ;    banishment    of,    256  ; 
recall  of,  257  ;  his  death,  260 

Geddington,  assembly  at,  100 

Geoffrey  of  Anjou,  13,  15,  2^,  27 

Geoffrey  of  Brittany,  98  ;  his  death, 
99 

Geoffrey  of  Nantes  rebels  against 
his  brother  Henry  II.,  50 

Geoffrey,  son  of  Henry  II.,  Arch- 
bishop of  York.  120 

Geographical  summary,  6 

German  history,  character  of  the 
epoch  of,  3 

Germany,  3  ;  condition  of,  under  the 
early  Plantagenets,  7  ;  alliance 
with  England,  76 

Giffard,  Archbishop  of  York,  ap- 
pointed regent,  206 

Gilbert,  Earl  of  Gloucester,  194,  196, 
198,  199 ;  swears  fealty  to  Ed- 
ward I.,  206;  marries  Johanna 
daughter  of  Edward  L,  228;  hi.s 
death,  237 


Index, 


281 


GIL 

Gilbert  of  Vacoeuil,  52 

Gilbert,  son  of  the  Earl  of  Glouces- 
ter,  regent,  258 

Glanvill,  Kanulf,  thejusticiar,  90,  97, 
106,  no  ;  his  death,  112 

Gray,  John  de.  Bishop  of  Norwich, 
elected  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
139 

Gregorj-  IX.,  pope,  176 

Grosseteste,  Robert,  Bishop  of  Lin- 
coln, 173,  176 

Gualo,  152,  157,  162 

Gwynneth,  Owen,  46 


HARCLAY,  Sir  Andrew,  go- 
vernor of  Carlisle,  267  ;  exe- 
cution of,  269 

Hawisia,  daughter  of  William,  Earl 
of  Gloucester,  94  ;  wife  of  John, 
134 

Henry  I.,  question  of  succession  at 
his  death,  11;  precautions  taken 
by,  12  ;  competitors  for  the  suc- 
cession, 13  ;  his  funeral,  15 

Henry  II..  knighted  at  Carlisle,  29  ; 
marries  Eleanor  of  Aquitaine,  30  ; 
his  arrival  in  England,  30  ;  leaves 
England,  31  ;  importance  attached 
to  his  succession,  32  ;  his  youth 
and  education,  33  ;  his  character, 
34  :  his  family  policy,  34  ;  his  great 
position  in  Christendom,  35  ;  mis- 
management of  his  children,  36  ; 
his  personal  appearance,  36  ;  early 
reforms  of,  37  ;  his  advisers,  39  ; 
coronation  of,  40 ;  disputes  re- 
garding the  resumption  of  lands, 

42  ;  surrender  of  the  malcontents, 

43  ;  frequent  councils,  43  ;  second 
coronation  of,  45  ;  first  war  against 
Wales,  46  ;  visits  France,  47  ;  his 
foreign  possessions,  47;  his  rela- 
tions with  his  vassals,  47  ;  his  rela- 
tion to  the  King  of  France,  48  ; 
questions  of  boundary',  49  ;  per- 
sonal questions,  4C>  ;  his  true  po- 
licy, 49  ;  crushes  his  brother  Geof- 
frey's rebellion,  50  ;  desists  from 
attacking  Toulouse,  50  ;  his  chil- 
dren, 51  ;  conclusion  of  peace  with 
Lewis  VII.,  52  ;  his  legal  reforms, 
52.  53  :.  increase  of  national  unity, 
55 ;  his  confidence  in  Thomas 
Becket,  64  ;  returns  from  France 


HEN 

66  ;  second  war  with  Wales,  67  ; 
his  disputes  with  Becket,  68-71  ; 
appeal  to  the  ancient  customs, 
71  ;  his  motives,  72  ;  exaspe- 
rated at  Becket,  73  ;  his  cruel 
measures  towards  Becket,  76 ; 
third  war  with  Wales,  76  ;  pro- 
ceedings during  the  quarrel,  76  ; 
reconciliation  with  Becket,  78  ; 
perseverance  in  reform,  80;  training 
of  the  people  in  self-government, 
82  ;  his  political  object  in  crown- 
ing his  son,  85  ;  applies  to  the 
pope  on  Becket's  death,  86  ;  his 
penitenceand  absolution,  87  ;  quar- 
rels with  his  son  Henry,  88  ;  his 
success  against  Lewis  VII.,  90  ;  in 
fVance,  90  ;  his  arrival  in  England, 
91  ;  his  policy,  92  ;  importance  of 
this  struggle,  93  ;  resumes  his 
schemes,  94  ;  his  visit  to  England, 
95  ;  his  last  quarrel,  100  ;  at  war 
with  Philip  II.,  loi  ;  his  flight  to 
Normandy,  102  ;  hLs  last  days, 
102  ;  his  death,  103 

Henry  III.,  4  ;  character  of  the 
reign  of,  153;  his  character,  154; 
division  of  his  reign,  155  ;  his 
party,  157  ;  coronation  of,  158  ; 
second  coronation  of,  162  ;  his 
foreign  policy,  165  ;  his  personal 
administration,  165  ;  internal  mis- 
government,  166  ;  his  first  act, 
167  ;  his  ingratitude,  169  ;  his  plan 
of  governing,  171  ;  marries  Eleanor 
of  Provence,  172  ;  his  uncon.siitu- 
tional  means  for  raising  money, 
174;  his  impolicy,  174;  his  rela- 
tions with  the  popes,  175  ;  accepts 
the  kingdom  of  Sicil>,  177;  his 
French  transactions,  178  ;  visits 
France,  1 79  ;  his  dynastic  policy, 
181  ;  political  troubles  of,  190  ; 
the  award  of  Lewis  IX.,  191  ;  its 
effects,  193  ;  military  successes  of, 
194  :  defeated  at  the  battle  of 
Lewes,  195  ;  conduct  of  the  new 
government,  197  ;  defeats  the 
barons  at  Evesham,  199  ;  his  death, 
200 

Henr>'  VI.,  Emperor  of  Germany, 
116-122 

Henry,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  20,  22  ; 
retires  from  court,  23 

Henry,  Earl  of  Lancaster,  271,  273 

Henry  of  Essex,  constable,  46,  67 


/ 

\ 


282 


Index. 


HEN 

Henry,  son  of  Henry  II.,  his  mar- 
riage, 51  ;  coronation  of,  without 
his  queen,  77  ;  second  coronation 
of,  with  his  queen,  88  ;  quarrels 
with  his  father,  88  ;  intrigues  of, 
95  ;  second  revolt  against  his  fa- 
ther, 97  ;  his  death,  98 

Henry,  son  of  the  King  of  the  Ro- 
mans, his  death,  200 

Henry  the  Lion,  Duke  of  Saxony 
and  Bavaria,  his  marriage,  76 

Heraclius,  patriarch,  mission  of,  99 

Herbert,  Bishop  of  Salisbur>',  126 

Hildebrandine  revival,  59 

History,  human,  various  areas  and 
stages  of,  I  ;  under  the  early  Plan- 
tagenets,  5 

Hohenstaufen,  drama  of,  3  :  empire 
of,  8 

Honorius  III.,  pope,  157 

House  of  Commons,  224 

House  of  Lords,  224 

Hoveden,  Roger,  33 

Hugh  de  Gournay,  135 

Hugh  of  Beauchamp,  99 

Hugh  of  la  Marche,  134 

Hugh  of  Lincoln,  126 

Hugh  of  Nunant,  Bishop  of  Coven- 
try, 124 


IMPORTED  merchandise,  taxes 
on,  219 

Income  Tax,  53 

Ingeburga  of  Denmark,  134 

Innocent  III.,  pope,  4,  127,  139,  142 

Innocent  IV.,  pope,  176 

Interdict,  England  laid  under,  141 

Ireland,  proposal  to  conquer,  43  ; 
expedition  of  Henry  II.  to,  86 

Isabella,  betrothed  wife  of  Hugh  of 
la  Marche,  134 

Isabella  of  France,  wife  of  Edward 
II.,  254;  position  and  policy  of, 
270  ;  her  intrigues  in  France,  272  ; 
her  triumphant  march  to  the  West 
of  England,  273  ;  rule  under,  275 

Isabella,  sister  to  Henr^'  III.,  mar- 
ried to  Emperor  Frederick  II.,  172 

Italy,  condition  of,  6 

Itinerant  judges  first  go  their  cir- 
cuits, 82 


JERUSALEM,  captured  by  Sala- 
din,  100;  Richard's  march  on,  115 


LAU 

Jews,  persecution  of,  106  ;   banished 

from  England,  228 
Jocelin  de  Bailleul,  72 
Johanna,   daughter  of   Edward    I., 

marries     Gilbert     of     Gloucester, 

228 
Johanna,   daughter  of   Henry  II., 

94 ;    wife   of   William   the    Good, 

"3 

John,  son  of  Henry  II.,  his  marriage, 
94  ;  cursed  by  his  dying  father, 
103  ;  provision  made  for,  by  his 
brother  Richard,  109  ;  position  of, 
118  ;  intrigues  with  Philip  II., 
121  ;  rebellion  of,  123  ;  secures 
Normandy,  130  ;  his  coronation, 
131  ;  division  of  the  history  of  hi.s 
reign,  132  ;  at  peace  with  Philip 
II.,  134  ;  his  second  marriage,  134  ; 
loses  Normandy  and  Anjou,  135  ; 
his  ecclesiastical  troubles,  137  :  ex- 
communication of,  141  ;  his  obdu- 
racy, 141  ;  swears  fealty  to  the 
pope.  142  ;  quarrels  with  the 
barons,  143  ;  his  journey  to  the 
Nonh,  146  ;  goes  to  France,  147  ; 
the  crown  offered  to  Lewis,  151  : 
his  successes  against  the  barons, 
151  ;  his  death,  152 

John  of  Salisbury',  28 

John  of  Brienne,  4 

John  the  Marshall,  70,  74 

John  XX II.,  3 

Judges,  punishment  of,  228  ;  itine- 
rant, 81  ;  fiscal  work  of,  81  ;  first 
go  their  circuits,  82 

Judicature,  restoration  of,  43  ;  cen- 
tral, 83 

Jurisdiction,  provincial  reform  of, 
81,  82 

Justice,  administration  of,  53 


KENILWORTH, 
199 


dictum     de. 


LACY,  Henr>'  de.    Earl  of  Lin- 
coln, 255  ;  his  death,  258 
Lands,  resumption  of,  42 
Langton,     Stephen,     elected    Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury',    140 ;    ab- 
.solves    the     king,     145  ;     crowns 
Henrj'  III.,  162  ;  his  death,  168 
Langton,  Walter.  238,  243,  253,  260 
Laudabiliter  Bull,  44 


Lidex, 


283 


LAW 

Laws,  appeal  to  the,  of  Henry  I., 
146  ;  probable  plan  for  the  codifica- 
tion of,  211  ;  Edwards  principles 
of  legislation,  212 

League  against  Henry  II.,  89 
Leicester,    Earl  of,  joins  a  league 
against  Henry  II.,  89 

I^opold,  Duke  of  Aui:tria,  116 

Lewes,  battle  of,  195 

Lewes,  Mise  of,  196 

Lewis  VI.,  King  of  France,  8 

Lewis  VII.,  Kmg  of  France,  4  ; 
joins  the  second  crusade,  27  ;  his 
character,  35;  his  relation  to  Henry 
II.,  48  ;  takes  up  the  cause  of 
Becket,  73  ;  joins  a  league  against 
Henr>-  II.,  89  ;  utterly  routed  by 
Henrj"  II.,  90  :  his  death,  96 

Lewis  IX.,  King  of  France,  4  ;  arbi- 
trates between  Henry  III.  and 
his  barons,  191  ;  award  of,  191  ; 
effects  of  the  award,  193  ;  motives 
for  his  decision,  193  ;  his  death, 
205 

Lewis  of  Bavaria,  3 

Lewis  son  of  Philip  of  France,  his 
marriage,  134  ;  the  crown  of  Eng- 
land offered  to  him,  151  :  his 
.successes  against  John,  151  ;  lands 
in  England,  151  ;  treaty  concluded 
with  Henr>'  III.,  159;  defeated 
at  Lincoln  and  departure  from 
England,  160 

Liege,  Bishop  of,  123 

Lincoln,  battle  of,  22,  160 

Lincoln,  parli."ment  at,  242 

Linlithgow  castle,  247 

Lisbon,  10 

Llewelyn,  Prince  of  North  Wales, 
194  ;  rebellion  of,  against  Edward 
I.,  208  ;  married  to  Eleanor  de 
Montfort,  209  ;  his  death,  209 

Longchamp,  William,  bishop  of  Ely, 
109;  chancellor,  116,  117;  as  su- 
preme justiciar,  ii8  ;  demands  the 
royal  castle.s,  119;  removed  from 
the  justiciarship,  121 

l>ords.  House  of,  224 

Lorraine,  Lower,  9 

Lothar  II.,  6 

Lucy,  Richard  de,  29.  40,  72,  89,  90; 
appointed  regent  during  the  king's 
absence,  52 

Lusignan,  Ethelmer,  Bishop  of  Win- 
chester, 181 

Lusignan,  Guy  of,  99 


MON 

MABILIA,  Countess  of  Glouces- 
ter, 24 
Madoc,  rebellion  of,  244 
Magna  Carta,   granted   at    Runny- 
mede,   149  ;  attempts  to  annul  it, 
150  ;  re-issued,  158  ;  third  issue  of, 
160 ;  confirmed,  227 
Malcolm    IV.,    King    of   Scotland, 

Mandeville,  Geoffrey,  Earl  of  Essex, 

25.  134,  159 
Mandeville,  William,  109 
Manners  during  this  epoch,  4 
Mans,  le,  capture  of,  by  Philip  II., 

lOI 

Margaret  of  France,  daughter  of 
Lewis  VII.,  51  ;  wife  of  Hcnr>', 
son  of  Henry  II.,  9S 

Margaret,  sister  of  Philip  IV.,  mar- 
ries Edward  I.,  246 

Marlborough,  parliament  of,  199 

Marshall,  Richard,  170 

Marshall.  William,  Earl  of  Pembroke, 
157  ;  his  death,  160  ;  work  of,  162 

Martell,  William,  29 

Martin,  master,  176 

Matilda,  daughter  of  Henry  I., 
fealty  sworn  to,  14,  16  ;  her  arrival 
m  England,  21  ;  elected  Lady  of 
England,  22  ;  her  imprudent  rule, 

23  ;  her  struggles  against  .Stephen, 

24  ;  flies  to  Oxford,  24  ;  the  king- 
dom divided,  25  ;  her  government 
in  Normandy,  40 

Matilda,  daughter  of  Henry  II.,  her 
marriage,  76 

Maurienne,  Count  of,  88 

Mercenaries,  importation  of,  19  ; 
expulsion  of,  40 

Merchandise,  taxation  on  importa- 
tion of,  219 

Merchants,  foreign,  relations  of  Ed- 
ward I.  with,  243 

Merlin,  prophesies  of,  37 

Miles  of  Hereford,  27 

Military'  system  in  Henry  II.'s  time, 

?3 

Mise  of  Lewes,  196 

Monasteries,  60 

Monks  of  Canterbury,  their  quarrels 
regarding  the  election  of  arch- 
bishop, 138 

Montfort,  Simon  de.  Earl  of  Leices- 
ter, marries  Eleanor,  daughter  of 
John,  172  ;  his  character,  184, 
military  successes  of,  194  ;  parlia- 


284  - 


Index, 


Index. 


285 


MOR 

ment  of,  197  ;  impolicy  of  his  sons, 
198;  killed  in  the  battle  of  Eves- 
ham, 199  ;  his  character,  as  a 
great  and  good  man,  200,  201 

Moral  lessons,  4 

Mortimer,  Hugh,  42 

Mortimer,  Roger,  189;  appointed 
regent,  206 

Mortimer,  Roger,  Lord  of  Wigmore, 
265,  271,  272.  275 

Morville,  Hugh  de,  78 

Mowbray,  Roger,  100 

NEVILLE,  Ralph,  Bishop  of 
Chichester,  171 

New  Custom,  the,  243 

Nicolas  IV.,  pope,  235 

Nicolas,  Bishop  of  'I'usculum,  146 

Nigel,  Bishop  of  Ely,  40 

Norman  bishops,  60 

Normandy,  invasion  of,  89  ;  for- 
feiture of,  135 ;  separation  from 
England,  136 

Normans,  results  of  rule  under,  10 

Northampton,  council  at,  73 ;  par- 
liament at,  254 

Nottingham,  castle  of,  119 

ORDAINERS,  the,  258 
Ordinances  of  131 1,  the,  258  ; 
revocation  of,  268 
Orlton,  Adam,   Bishop  of  Hereford, 

273,274 
Otho,  Cardinal,  176 
Otho,  of  Saxony,  Emp)eror,  128 
Oxford,  siege  of,  25  ;  parliament  of, 
188  ;  provisions  of,  189 

PACIFICATION,  terms  of,  in 
1.153.  37 

Palestine,  condition  of,  99 

Pandulf,  142  ;  as  legate,  162  ;  resigns, 
164 

Papacy,  relations  with  the  empire, 
3  :  demands  in  Henry  III.'s  time, 
166;  taxation,  i58  ;  Henry  III.'s 
relations  with  the  popes,  175;  list 
of  papal  assumptions,  176  ;  papal 
claims  over  Scotland,  242 

Pari.s,  Matthew,  131,  174,  185 

Parliament,  172  ;  discussions  in,  173; 
of  1258,  187;  origin  of  our  mo- 
dem, 197  ;  under  Edward  I.,  223  ; 
growth  of,  223  ;  Lincoln,  242 

Peckham.  Archbishop,  235 


REY 

Pembroke,  Earl  of,  256 

Perche,  Count  of,  i6o 

Peter  de  Vineis,  210 

Peter  of  Wakefield,  142 

Petronilla,  Lady,  91 

Peverell,  William,  43 

Philip  II.,  King  of  France,  his 
hatred  of  Henry  II.,  96  ;  at  war 
with  Henry  II.,  100;  joins  the 
third  crusade,  no  ;  at  Messina, 
113  ;  intrigues  of,  against  Richard, 
121  ;  concludes  a  two  months' 
peace  with  John,  133 ;  at  peace 
with  John,  134  ;  takes  Normandy 
and  Anjou,  135 

Philip  III.,  King  of  France,  206;  his 
death,  232 

Philip  IV.,  the  Fair,  King  of  France 
his  relations  with  Edward  I  ,  232  ; 
quarrels  with  Edward  I.,  233 

Philip  v..  King  of  France,  271 

Philip  of  Flanders  joins  a  league 
against  Henry  II.,  89 

Pipewell,  council  of,  108 

Political  history  during  this  epoch,  2 

Politicians,  ecclesiastical,  61 

Portugal  during  the  age  of  the 
earlj[  Plantagenets,  9 

Provisions  of  Oxford,  189 

Provisions  of  Westminster,  190 

Puiset,  Hugh  de,  Bishop  of  Durham, 
89  :  justiciar,  116,  117  ;  expelled, 
118 


Q 


UIA  Emptores  statute,  213,  224 


■p  ANULF,    Earl  of  Chester,   21 

Ranulf,  Earl  of  Chester,  129, 157,  169 

Raymond  of  Toulouse,  184 

Rebellion  of  1136,  17 

Reform,  Henry  II.s  plans  of,  37  ; 
progress  of,  52  ;  Henry's  pei seve- 
rance in,  80  ;  political  object  of  it, 
81  ;  new  schemes  of,  257 

Reginald,  Earl  of  Cornwall,  90 

Reginald,  subprior,  elected  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  139 

Religion  during  this  epoch,  4 

Revenue,  nature  of,  in  the  time  of 
Henry  II.,  52  ;  under  Henry  III. 
218  ;  sources  of,  during  Edward  l.'s 
reign,  215:  customs,  219;  parliamen- 
tary settlement  on  Edward  I.,  220 

Reynolds,  Walter,  261  ' 


r 


RIC 

Richard  I.,  Coeur  de  Lion,  son  of  j 
Henry  II.,  51  ;  quarrels  with  his  i 
brother  Henry,  98  ;  his  father's 
distrust  of,  98  ;  joins  the  third 
crusade,  100 ;  does  homage  to 
Philip  II.,  loi  ;  joins  in  a  con- 
spiracy against  his  father,  loi  ; 
cnaracter  of  his  reign,  104  ;  his 
accession  to  the  throne,  105  ;  his 
coronation,  106  ;  his  personal  ap- 
pearance and  character,  106,  107  ; 
his  mode  of  procuring  means  for 
the  third  crusade,  108  ;  starts  on 
the  crusade,  109  ;  his  journey 
along  the  Italian  shore,  112  ;  at 
Messina,  113;  his  campaigns  in 
Palestine,  114;  exploits  of,  115; 
his  retreat  and  truce,  116  ;  cap- 
tivity of,  116;  negotiations  for  his 
release,  122  ;  ransom  raised  for  his 
relea.se,  122  ;  his  relea.se,  123  ;  his 

■  second  visit  to  England,  124  ; 
money  refused  him  by  the  great 
council,  126  ;  his  last  years,  127  ; 
events  of  the  war  with  Philip  II., 
127  ;  his  death,  128 

Richard,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
168 

Richard,  Earl  of  Cornwall,  King 
of  the  Romans,  brother  to 
Henry  III.,  165,  169  ;  his  mar- 
riage, 172  ;  his  character,  182  ;  at 
the  battle  of  Lewes,  195 ;  his 
death,  200 

Robert,  Earl  of  Gloucester,  15  ; 
swears  fealty  to  Stephen,  16  ;  his 
power  18  ;  taken  prisoner,  24  ;  his 
death,  27 

Robert,  Earl  of  Leicester,  regent 
during  the  king's  absence,  52 

Roches,  Peter  des.  Bishop  of  Win- 
chester, regent,  157,  161  ;  the  king's 
adviser,  169  ;  fall  of,  170 

Rochester  castle  besieged,  151 

Roger,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  14  ;  jus- 
ticiar of  Henry  I.,  20  ;  arrested, 
20 

Roger,  Earl  of  Leicester,  26 

Roger  of  Hereford,  42 

Roger  of  Pont  I'Eveque,  Archbishop 
of  York,  77 

Rome,  proceedings  at,  28  ;  character 
of  the  court  of,  86,  87 

"Kudolf  of  Hapsburg,  3  ^    ,     ,, 

Tvmcr^.e,  granting  of  the  Magna 


STE 

SAER  DE  QUINCY,  160 
St.  Albans,  assembly  at,  146 

St.  Andrew's,  Bishop  of,  247 

St.  Bernard,  4,  28 

St.  Edmund,  80 

St.  Edmund's,  coronation  at,  45,  46 

St.  Gregory,  56 

St.  Hugh^  126 

St,  Paul's,  council  at,  146 

St.  William,  28 

Saladin,  Sultan  of  Egj'pt,  99 

Salisbury',  Earl  of,  151 

Salisbury,  meeting  of  barons  at,  238 

Saragossa,  10 

Saxony, 8 

Scotland,  invasion  of  England  by, 
16,  18  ;  submission  of,  to  Henry 
II.,  92  ;  claims  of  Edward  I. 
upon,  229  ;  the  kingdom  of,  230  ; 
papal  claims  over,  242  ;  alliance 
of,  with  France,  245  ;  troubles  in, 
245  ;  war  against  England,  246  ; 
truce  with  England,  246  ;  affairs 
in,  after  the  fall  of  Balliol,  247  ; 
Edward's  new  constitution  for, 
248  ;  truce  concluded  with  Edward 
II.,  269 

Scottish  independence,  war  of,  246 

Scutage,  institution  of,  54 

Segrave,  Sir  John,  247 

Segrave,  Stephen,  justiciar,  169 

Shrewsbury,  assembly  at,  223 

Sibylla,  queen  of  Jerusalem,  sister  of 
Baldwin  the  Leper,  99,  113 

Simon  de  Montfort,  see  Montfort, 
Simon  de 

Spain,  state  of,  9 

Standard,  battle  of  the,  18 

Stapleton,  Bishop  of  Exeter,  270 

Statute  DeReligiosis,  235 

Statute  of  Wales,  210 

Statute  of  Westminster,  the  first,  223 

Statute  of  Winchester,  214 

Stephen  of  Blois,  his  claim  to  the 
throne,  13  ;  his  reception  in 
England,  14  ;  his  election  and 
coronation,  14  ;  his  first  charter, 
15;  his  second  charter,  16;  in- 
vaded by  the  Scots,  16,  18  ;  rebel- 
lion of  1136,  17;  beginning  of 
troubles,  17  ;  his  imprudent  poTicy, 
18  ;  debases  coinage,  19  ;  his  new 
earls,  19  ;  imports  mercenaries, 
- ^  •    Vi  1 .-    Ki-.'n/-n   \i-itn    the  cler'^ 


286 


Index. 


STI 


prisoner,  21  ;  is  released,    24  •  his 

Sn  '"  "^^'  ^5  :  divisi'ontf  the 
kmgdom.  25  :  period  of  anarchy 
26.  proceedings  at  Rom«»  oR  • 
quarrels  with  the  archbishop  X  •' 
question  of  succession.  ^9  ; '^'eS-' 
tiates  for  peace,  30  ;  his  death  ft 
^,?^'™'-^te  of  his  character  fi'  ' 
Sugand.  Archbishop,  58     '  ^ 

S  ;^lV"^;^^"§''.'^  ^^^^^^^d  near  ^.. 
Stratford.     John,    Bishop    of   Win 
Chester.  274  ^  ^ '" 

Swabia,  6 


YPK 


! 


\yAIERANofMcuIan,26 
11     .^^''    ^i   ^^"^  ^ith  Henry 

iJ-,  67  ;  third  war  with  Henrv  iT 
76;    turbulence    of     hf  ^      "' 


T'^-^CRED.  King  Of  Sicily.  „  3 

inthTrde'yP2T';;^,«-,^h-^ 
representative'' ailn,;Terfo;"ff;f 

4^"^PJ'\'-s,  the.  50.  51 

Theobald.  Archbishop  of  Cinter 
bury,  20:  quarrels  with  sreXn 
J8  ;  ne  ,,,  ,,     succeS'^Cf 

II     2-  hi' ^^^•■^'^''^"'o  Henry 
Tk    T'*,  ,•  "''^  ^eath,  52  ' 

Theobald,  Count,  ,3.  i\ 
Ihomas,    Earl    of  Lancaster     2-. 

of  Sl'-^"  if  '  •''^'  ''^  •■    "^-"' 'on 
^hisetcutiinV°"-^--esof 

I,hurstan,  Archbishop,  18 
I 'ckhdl,  castle  of,   ng 
•  oledo,  10 

Toulouse,  war  of,   50 
Iracy,  William  de,  78 


11-     ^ 

"allmgford,    peace  „4;i.-,l?o„s  a,, 

death,  137  ^'^fiard,   130  ;    his 

Wareham,  25 
Warenne,  Earl,  246 

hood  conferred  0*4;  «  '  '^"'«'>'- 

Westminster,  treafv   0/ 

at,7o;proSSotx'^^r:rt'' 

t^i  "^gainst    Henry     H       £>,  . 

,,,?^^^en  prisoner,  qi        ^     ^'^    *^. 

^J'.'am,  Earl  of  Salisbury   1,6 
W.  hamofAumale,i63^'    ^^ 

U, IjamofEynesford.  70 

^1  ham  of  Ferrers,  187 

^J..'    I'lm,  son  of  Henry  J     ,, 

«,!,,a™,eGood,oflicUV:i,is,„ar. 


V-*PeiS^'r;  AJ™"  <"'-  Earl  of 

|ovef„?r'-o^VcSlat;1?3-,t 
,  death,  272  ^^  '    "*^ 

Vescy,  Lady  de     2-n  •    P.,-. 

'51,  159  ^^  '   -^"^'^ce  de. 


„  riage,  94 

'^Sjetef  ^°'  "^t-V  of 
U-'"*^J"f^r,  Bishop  of,   108 

Worms,  Qiet  of,  122 
Y^^ES.  William  of,  42 


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